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ATI SME Programme: prepare your aerospace funding application
Explore the currently open ATI SME Programme, offering up to £1.5m for civil aerospace R&D, and learn how to assess eligibility and prepare your application.
A currently open route for aerospace SMEs
Stage 1 of the Aerospace Technology Institute's SME Programme is currently open, with grant funding of up to £1.5m. It supports R&D that strengthens a company's position in civil aerospace. For an innovative UK SME already serving this sector, or developing technology for a defined aerospace customer need, it is a relevant opportunity to investigate. The starting point is not the maximum award, but whether your proposed research addresses a credible technical problem and creates a commercial opportunity.
Among the opportunities listed, this is a practical choice for a UK aerospace supply-chain SME because the stated scope explicitly targets these businesses. The funding is non-dilutive, meaning it does not require giving up equity. That does not establish how much of your project costs will be covered. Before committing writing time, check the full competition guidance, including the funding rate, eligible costs and Stage 1 requirements. Our UK business grant directory can also help you compare live opportunities.
What it funds and who should investigate
The supplied call summary identifies UK-registered small and medium-sized aerospace supply-chain companies, or consortia led by or including an SME, as its audience. Its purpose is R&D that strengthens their position in civil aerospace. Start by describing the technology you want to develop, the uncertainty you need to resolve and the civil aerospace use case. A general ambition to sell into aviation is less persuasive than a specific problem faced by a potential customer.
For example, a project might investigate a manufacturing process, component or testing approach intended for a civil aerospace application. These are illustrative possibilities, not confirmed eligible categories. Check your particular activity against the official scope before assuming it fits. If you need partners, explain which capability each brings and why the project cannot be delivered as effectively without it. The summary is not a complete eligibility checklist, so verify the detailed applicant and consortium rules before deciding your structure.
Build an assessor-ready technical case
The supplied summary does not include the assessment questions or scoring criteria. Use the official Stage 1 guidance as your authority for those details. As preparation, build an evidence-based explanation of the problem, the limitations of existing approaches and the advance your project seeks to make. Separate what you already know from what remains uncertain. This helps an assessor understand why research is necessary rather than simply accepting your description of the product as innovative.
Turn the proposed advance into measurable evidence. Identify the current baseline, the improvement you will test and the method you will use to judge the result. Where relevant, distinguish a laboratory result from performance under conditions that matter to an aerospace customer. Explain the main technical risks and how you would respond if an approach fails. Our guide to writing a grant application can help you organise this material into a clear argument rather than a catalogue of features.
Show how the research strengthens your business
The programme's stated purpose makes your position in civil aerospace central to the funding case. Explain where your business sits in the supply chain, who would buy or adopt the result and what would need to happen before that decision. Use evidence you actually hold, such as customer discussions, test requirements or documented shortcomings in current solutions. Distinguish confirmed interest from assumptions. Do not present a prospective customer's enthusiasm as a purchase commitment unless you have evidence supporting that claim.
Connect the research outputs to a realistic route to market. Depending on your technology, that may involve further testing, qualification, integration or customer approval after the funded work. Explain which steps sit inside the proposed project and which remain afterwards. Identify who will own or have access to the knowledge needed for commercialisation, particularly in a consortium. Then describe how success would improve your company's aerospace position, without relying on unsupported market share forecasts or treating technical success as guaranteed revenue.
Prepare the project and budget before drafting
Create a project outline covering the objective, research activities, intended outputs, delivery team and principal risks. Break the work into packages with accountable owners and explain how their outputs connect. For each significant cost, record what it buys and why the work needs it. Treat the award ceiling as a limit, not a budget target. Your requested funding should follow from a justified programme of work and the competition's confirmed cost and funding rules.
Because this opportunity is labelled Stage 1, check exactly what this stage asks you to submit and how progression works before preparing a full proposal. Do not assume the separately listed Stage 2 is an interchangeable entry route. Work backwards from the submission requirements, allowing time for partner input, cost checks and internal approval. Keep an assumptions log so unresolved questions about eligibility, funding or scope are answered before they become embedded in the application narrative and budget.
Where to go next
Start with a fit review rather than a long draft. Gather your company details, a short description of the aerospace problem, the proposed research, any customer evidence and an initial cost outline. Add information about partners if collaboration is necessary. Use that material to test three points: whether the applicant structure fits, whether the research falls within scope and whether the business can support delivery. If a point remains unclear, seek clarification rather than filling the gap with an assumption.
To discuss whether this currently open opportunity fits your business, book a 15-minute grant scope and eligibility assessment with GrantUp. Bring your project outline and the main questions you need answered, particularly around applicant structure, research scope and budget assumptions. The useful next step is to establish whether to proceed, what evidence is missing and which official requirements need checking. That gives your team a defined preparation task before committing substantial time to writing the Stage 1 application.
Ready to turn this into a funded proposal?
Book a free 30-minute consultation with a senior grant consultant. We will check your eligibility, match you to the right program, and map out your submission timeline.
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