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Key trends and indicators on supply & demand of the world commercial satellite industry

Paris, Washington D.C., Montreal, Yokohama, November 12, 2015 – Euroconsult’s latest report, Satellite Value Chain: The Snapshot 2015, brings together a selection of key trends and indicators on supply and demand from Euroconsult’s 2015 reports complemented by additional dedicated research on the commercial satellite business to give a snapshot of the commercial satellite value chain. Along with the introductory/overview section, the report includes sections on satellite manufacturing & launch services, satellite communications, Earth observation, and satellite navigation.

Download an extract of the complete report.

Designed as a customized executive presentation of nearly 40 PowerPoint slides, each including multiple graphs with explanatory text, the report proposes a selection of Euroconsult’s 2015 key graphs and data complemented by additional dedicated research on the commercial satellite business. The report covers each segment of the value chain, from upstream to downstream, and commercial satellite applications.


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Rich of 25 plus years of experience, we felt it was time for a makeover

Our corporate visual identity has been refreshed to reflect who we are today and to accompany our future developments.

It highlights our commitment to deepen our activities in:

  • Consultancy and Management,
  • Research and Development,
  • Space Programmes and their Applications,

while staying at the cutting edge of Technology and Security.

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(7. December 2015) The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) published its first nautical chart with EOMAP’s Satellite Derived Bathymetry in Oct. 2015: BA 2066 of Southern Antigua. Prior to this mapping a competitive evaluation of different SDB methods was performed by the UKHO in which EOMAPs data performed best.

The BA 2066 chart and the mapping was presented at this years High Resolution Shallow Survey Conference.

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Organisations such as the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) or the Red Cross are in the front line and need the most efficient way of deploying emergency resources.

NOVACOM SERVICES, a CLS subsidiary, geolocates the vehicles of organisations working in the front line to save lives. Jean Muller, in charge of humanitarian applications at NOVACOM SERVICES explains: «The trust which these organisations have placed in NOVACOM SERVICES enables close cooperation in the field through the Humanav Next project that is consolidating and legitimising our involvement in the humanitarian world.»

By helping the victims of these disasters through its solutions, CLS and its subsidiary are indispensable players wherever extreme climate situations occur. NOVACOM SERVICES, equips more than 1500 humanitarian vehicles in the world.

Humanav solution by NOVACOM Services

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Since 2013, CLS and its subsidiary ALTAMIRA INFORMATION, have been mapping and delimiting flood zones of the Adour river in Dax, using their expertise in satellites and radar imaging.

According to the IPCC report, “The proportion of the world population facing water shortages or affected by major flooding will increase with the level of global warming in the 21st century.” The scarcity of fresh water resources will be most strongly felt in countries in the Southern hemisphere, whereas countries in the Northern hemisphere are expected to experience more regular and devastating episodes of flooding.

CLS, a world leader in altimetry, is putting its 30 years’ experience of ocean monitoring at the service of sustainable management of water resources. Satellites can provide solutions for managing water resources, water stress or extreme weather events. The Toulouse-based company is willing and able to combine different types of satellite, in-situ or numerical modelling data. These solutions should prove indispensable for the comprehensive and fair management of water resources.

They will make it possible to predict and monitor river networks, and to control the state of resources at a regional level. With satellite tools, the authorities will be in a position to monitor the intrusion of saltwater into estuaries, providing vital ammunition in the fight against salinisation of coastal farmland.

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French West Indies beach invaded by Sargassum seaweed. CLS maps the seaweed ahead of time so it can be collected before reaching the shore.

Since 2011, brown Sargassum seaweed has been amassing on the Caribbean and South American shoreline. As it decomposes, it emits hydrogen sulphide gas, harmful to humans in high doses, and a foul smell similar to that of a rotten egg. To combat this problem, CNES has given CLS the task of implementing an operational satellite surveillance system. The latter is based on multi-satellite detection using radar and optical instruments, in addition to a drift model. Radar technology is a key advantage in this area because it is unaffected by cloud cover and can operate both day and night.

CLS scientists such as Romain Husson have pinpointed the signature of Sargassum seaweed in radar images. Today, CLS maps the seaweed offshore. This information is crucial for supporting collection operations and for other players affected. The phenomenon could well be related to global warming because it is likely that the rise in water temperature is one of the factors accounting for the seaweed’s proliferation.

Demo « Highlight of the Copernicus Sentinel-1A products http://eoda.cls.fr

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(16 Dec 2015) Space-based technologies are involved in climate monitoring

At COP21 in Paris, an unprecedented agreement was reached: More than 150 heads of state agreed on quantified targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.The signal is clear. All economic sectors, including the space sector, will be involved.

Space-based technologies are already deeply involved in climate monitoring. Thanks to satellite programs launched by space agencies, including the French Space Agency, CNES, we have over thirty years of continuous Earth observations to serve climate studies.

CLS responds to the climate change challenge with innovative and new satellite applications for enhancing operational observation and practical response to climate change.

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It has been released after a public beta test phase with many helpful feedback from enthusiastic users.

It provides users a comprehensive set of tools for using data products from the Sentinel platforms.

SNAP is a powerful EO application on its own and provides the platform for plugging in other sensor- or domain-specific toolboxes. Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 Toolboxes and also the SMOS-Box and Radarsat-2 Toolbox can be optionally installed, either by the installer, or later from within the SNAP plugin manager.

SNAP is the successor of the well known BEAM software and will replace it in the long term. BEAM will remain under maintenance until at least mid of 2016 where we will continuing our user support. The further development of new features will take place within SNAP and the toolboxes.

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Berlin, October 29th, 2015 — BlackBridge, a Planet Labs company, is the leading partner of the project ForMoSa, an Innovator III project funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) through the Data User Element . The project aims at developing methodologies for forest degradation monitoring and algorithms for sensor interoperability in the frame of REDD+ MRV. These are considered as high-priority research topics by the Global Forest Observation Initiative (GFOI).

For this project, BlackBridge has teamed up with Wageningen University and FAO, two world-class organizations with an active involvement in REDD+. Wageningen University provides scientific support for the development of novel approaches for deforestation and forest degradation monitoring, whereas FAO’s role in this project is to validate the outcome methodologies and results from the test sites in Peru, Vietnam, and Ethiopia.

“This is a very exciting opportunity for us to develop methods and workflows to further increase the usefulness of EO data for REDD+ MRV. Advancing sensor interoperability and forest degradation assessment will definitely provide some grounds for that,” said Rene Griesbach, project manager for BlackBridge.

Inge Jonckheere, from FAO, states, “Accurate deforestation and forest degradation monitoring are critical to support developing countries in their readiness for REDD+. We are very pleased to participate in this project with top players in this domain and contribute to the development of new EO-based methods to tackle these challenges and share them with the REDD+ countries.”

To learn more about the ForMoSa project, please visit www.formosa.global.

About BlackBridge
BlackBridge, a Planet Labs Company, provides end-to-end solutions across the geospatial value chain. These include satellite operations, ground station services, and worldwide satellite imagery distribution through over 100 BlackBridge partners, combined with the creation of value-added products and geo-service solutions. For more information on BlackBridge, please visit www.blackbridge.com.

Contact
BlackBridge AG
Kurfürstendamm 22
10719 Berlin
Germany
press@blackbridge.com

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its commercial space policy, which sets a broad framework for agency use of commercial space-based approaches.

The policy establishes critical components for engaging with the commercial sector: designating the Office of Space Commerce as a single point of entry for commercial providers to streamline the process for easier engagement; establishing an open and transparent marketplace; defining guiding principles, implementation considerations and strategic planning for potential commercial data buys; establishing demonstration projects to test and evaluate new potential data sources; and providing an avenue to operational commercial data buys.

View the full policy document here