The ESA Proposal Advice Service (ESA PAS)

ESA PAS is a new initiative from UK Space Agency designed to support UK-based organisations bidding for European Space Agency contracts. It is designed to improve the quality, completeness, strategic alignment and consistency of bids – thereby aiming to strengthen the bidder’s application for funding – by providing free, non-technical advice to organisations through a thorough review of their draft bid (before submission).

The service is open to UK-based organisations, such as start-ups, SMEs, academic institutions, mid-caps, primes, and consortia.

Organisations may be bidding as prime (directly to ESA) or as a subcontractor into another organisation or as part of a consortium – either is eligible for ESA PAS.

A set of criteria has been established to enable prioritisation, however, we will try and accommodate all applicants, if possible.

ESA PAS focuses on improving the clarity, structure, and strategic alignment of proposals by identifying common errors and areas for improvement. This is done by a thorough review of the draft bid submission (all volumes), read alongside the ITT/RFP. Detailed feedback is provided giving recommendations for improvements, for example highlighting inconsistencies and common mistakes.

All information submitted to ESA PAS is treated in strict commercial confidence. It is not shared with any third parties outside of the UK Space Agency and its ESA PAS delivery partner KI Bid Consulting.

Organisations should apply as soon as they have taken a decision to bid for a specific opportunity.

To apply to use ESA PAS, organisations must complete the triage form. Triage forms are reviewed weekly, and successful applicants will be invited to upload their draft proposal to a dedicated UKSA portal (only accessible to the applicant and UKSA/KI Bid Consulting) roughly one week before the submission deadline.

Detailed feedback specific to the reviewed bid will be provided to the organisation roughly four days prior to the submission deadline, allowing time to integrate recommendations into their proposal.

Specific dates are communicated as part of the onboarding process – and we understand that bids can be stressful and time-pressured, so we work as flexibly as possible to accommodate bid extensions and last-minute changes.

Applicants can request a verbal feedback session in addition to written feedback if they wish to discuss the comments or ask further questions.

Typically, the most benefit from ESA PAS comes at the full proposal stage – but if help is required at an earlier proposal stage (APQ, outline), organisations can get in touch to discuss.

The eligibility criteria have been set up to enable prioritisation, but where possible, we will try and review as many bids as possible – so even if organisations don’t quite meet all criteria, apply anyway.

If the opportunity being bid for requires a UKSA letter of support (it will state this in the ITT/RFP), organisations must have this in progress with the relevant programme team at UKSA. This check is done by the ESA PAS team prior to onboarding to avoid nugatory work.

To apply to use ESA PAS, organisations must complete the triage form.

Contact EPO@ukspaceagency.gov.uk and kelly@ki-bidconsulting.com to discuss further.

“The instructions to use the service was very clear before the service started; the feedback was prompt, detailed and relevant; the consultant was able to provide
responses with short notice”

“Kelly was fantastic in providing the feedback promptly and supporting the application. I would certainly like to contact her again for feedback on the proposal”