Skip to content

(Brussels, 23 June 2015) Europe’s Earth observation programme “Copernicus” is making further headway in tackling environmental disasters, improving land use for agriculture and forestry and responding to emergency situations.

One year after the successful launch of the first Copernicus satellite (“Sentinel 1”), a second satellite (“Sentinel 2”) was successfully sent into orbit at 03:52 CET on Tuesday 23 June from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Commissioner for Internal market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs said: “Today’s success is not only an achievement for European space policy. Above all, it will benefit citizens down here on Earth. Copernicus provides more precise and reliable information about our environment and European citizens’ security. And the availability of full, free and open satellite observation data is already today allowing innovative entrepreneurs to create new applications and services in Europe.”

The launch of the Sentinel 2 satellite is the fruit of European technological and industrial excellence and brings us further in our path to a new world standard for Earth observation data. The flow of open and free data is already today creating a market for satellite-enabled products and services, providing highly qualified jobs, with spill-over effects across the economy.

The addition of a second satellite will allow Copernicus to deliver images of Earth’s changing land with a high level of detail and accuracy. Citizens and businesses have free, full and open access to the Copernicus data that can be used to manage and protect the environment and natural resources, tackle climate change, and ensure civil security. Sentinel 2 data can help farmers in monitoring the changes in vegetation and cultures during the growing season. The Copernicus data can help in responding to emergency situations, whether man-made accidents or natural disasters such as flooding and landslides. In the recent earthquake in Nepal, the combination of the pictures acquired before and after the quake by the Copernicus satellite helped local relief efforts to target their resources.

Background

The Copernicus programme is made possible by European technological and industrial excellence and the joint efforts of the European Commission, the European Parliament, EU Member States and the European Space Agency.

Copernicus will help create new jobs and business opportunities. Already today, space activities foster the development of a market for satellite-enabled products and services. A range of new business models are beginning to flourish around the services and data provided by Copernicus, paving the way for innovative entrepreneurs to create new applications and services.

In addition to the space industry, a number of economic segments will see the advantages of accurate and reliable earth observation data, such as transport, oil and gas, insurance and agriculture.

Studies show that Copernicus, which by 2021 will include six satellites, could generate a financial benefit of some €30 billion and create around 50,000 jobs in Europe by 2030.

Moreover, the open dissemination regime for Copernicus data and service information will help citizens, businesses, researchers and policy makers to integrate an environmental dimension into all their activities and decision-making procedures.

More information available at
Copernicus web site
Sentinel 2A Launch Kit

Copernicus Services:

Land Monitoring
Emergency Management
Security
Climate Change

Source

The European Space Agency (ESA) has launched the second phase of a 4.3-billion-euro ($4.91-billion) programme to deploy new-generation satellites to monitor environmental damage and aid disaster relief operations, officials said early Monday 22 June.

Sentinel-2A was hoisted by a lightweight Vega rocket from ESA’s base in Kourou, French Guiana, overnight Monday-Tuesday (22/23 June), launch operator Arianespace said.

The 1.1-tonne polar-orbiting satellite is designed to loop the world every 100 minutes, providing high-definition optical imaging of vegetation, soil and freshwater to a resolution of 10 metres (32.5 feet), helping monitoring of forest cover, water stress and crop health. It will also provide information for emergency services,

It and a partner are the second of six scheduled pairs of Earth-monitoring satellites under the Copernicus programme, an initiative headed by the European Union’s executive Commission in conjunction with ESA.

Sentinel-1A, designed to scan the Earth’s surface with cloud-penetrating radar, was launched in April 2014. Sentinels 1B and 2B are due for deployment in 2016, according to the ESA website.

Copernicus succeeds Envisat, one of the most successful environmental satellites in space history, whose mission ended in 2012.

The programme was initially called Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), but was renamed in 2013 to honour the 16th-century Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, who determined the Earth orbited the Sun, and not the other way around, as convention had it at the time.

Spacedaily

The Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos plans to expand its fleet of satellites for taking images of the Earth, as part of a project to create a new center for global imaging, which aims to become a major player in Earth remote sensing services.

The existing Research Center for Earth Operative Monitoring, part of the Russian Space Systems holding, will become the core of the new structure, which between 2016 and 2025 aims to increase its fleet of satellites to as many as 20.

A spokesman for Roscosmos told the Russian daily newspaper Izvestiya that the project will finance improvements to its resources by meeting commercial orders for imagery from foreign states and private companies.

“In setting up the center for remote Earth sensing, we are not only aiming to meet existing demand from Russian clients,” explained a Roscosmos representative, adding that at the moment, the provision of imaging to clients for free causes the quality of imaging to suffer from a lack of investment.

“To this end, we plan to alter, to some degree, the scheme for cooperating with government customers. The idea is that they don’t get absolutely everything for free, but pay in part for the work of the center, such as the processing of the images.”

“This will allow us to increase our competitiveness in the global satellite imaging market.”

The current fleet of satellite imaging equipment held by the Research Center for Earth Operative Monitoring comprises two Resurs-P and one Resurs-DK1 satellites, capable of acquiring imaging with a resolution of up to one meter, one Kanopus-B with a resolution of images of up to two meters, and three meteorological units.

Images from the Resurs-P satellites are used by Russian government ministries, including the Emergencies Ministry, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Environment Ministry.

At the moment, said the spokesman, commercial clients are only able to order images from the Resurs-DK1 satellite, the oldest in the fleet, which was launched in 2006. As a result, private companies such as the Russian internet services firm Yandex turn to commercial providers of satellite imagery, which get their data from foreign as well as Russian satellites.

Improvements to the satellite fleet have already been set in motion for the coming years, said the spokesman. Work on the production of the Obzor-O four-satellite constellation system will begin in 2016, and another Resurs-P satellite is set for launch this year.

Source: Sputnik News

Sentinel-2A is the first optical Earth observation satellite in the European Copernicus programme. On Tuesday, 23 June at 03.51:58 am CEST (22 June at 10.51:58 pm local time), a Vega launcher took off from the spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, carrying the satellite developed and built under the industrial leadership of Airbus Defence and Space for the European Space Agency (ESA).


  • Satellite built by Airbus Defence and Space to add colour to the Copernicus programme through multispectral instrument that provides unique image quality
  • Laser-based data transmission via new SpaceDataHighway

After just over one hour, the solar panel needed to supply energy was extended and Sentinel-2A successfully reported in ‘for duty’. The 1.1 tonne satellite has been designed to operate for at least 7 years and 3 months in a polar orbit around 780 kilometres above the Earth.

“The outstanding performance capabilities of Sentinel-2’s multispectral instrument along with its rapid data transmission ability will soon be available, marking a major step forward in satellite-based Earth and environmental observation,” said François Auque, Head of Space Systems at Airbus Defence and Space.

The Sentinel 2 mission will contribute to the management of food security by providing information for the agricultural sector. It will also enable the condition of and changes in land surfaces to be mapped and forests worldwide to be monitored. Also the mission will provide information about the pollution of lakes and coastal waters. Images of floods, volcanic eruptions and landslides will aid the production of disaster maps and facilitate humanitarian aid activities.

The mission is based on a constellation of two identical satellites, Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B. Sentinel-2B will be launched in 2016 into the same orbit, but it will be 180°apart. It will take both satellites five days to cover the Earth between the latitudes of 56° south and 84° north, thus optimising the global coverage zone and data transmission for numerous applications. Sentinel-2B is being worked on in the cleanrooms of Airbus Defence and Space and will be ready for launch in 2016.

The imaging instrument, which uses 13 spectral channels ranging from the visible to the infrared, delivers high-resolution multispectral images of the Earth’s surface with a resolution of up to 10 metres at an image width of 290 kilometres. This extremely large scanning width results in wider coverage, while at the same time, the advanced instrument provides an unprecedented level of detail.

Sentinel-2 is also capable of using another ESA programme, the European Data Relay System (EDRS). EDRS will be a network of laser communication payloads on geostationary satellites and low Earth orbit satellites. The system is also known as The SpaceDataHighway and will provide secure and fast communication services for the Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellites. It will ensure the timely availability of data particularly for time-critical applications such as environmental monitoring, emergency response and security missions.

Thanks to its ability to produce colour imaging for Copernicus, Sentinel-2A perfectly complements the radar imaging provided around the clock and in all weather conditions by the first Sentinel satellite, Sentinel-1A, which was launched on 3 April 2014. Sentinel-1A carries a C-band radar instrument built by Airbus Defence and Space.

The Sentinel-2 mission has been made possible thanks to the close collaboration between ESA, the European Commission, industry, service providers and data users. Its development has involved around 60 companies, led by Airbus Defence and Space in Germany for the satellites and Airbus Defence and Space in France for the multispectral instruments, while Airbus Defence and Space in Spain is responsible for the mechanical satellite structure.

Source

UrtheCast to acquire ownership and operation of the Deimos-1 and Deimos-2 satellites, satellite operations and their global archive.

VANCOUVER, June 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ – UrtheCast Corp. (TSX:UR) (“UrtheCast” or the “Company”), today announced that its subsidiary has entered into a definitive agreement with Elecnor, S.A. (“Elecnor”) to acquire Elecnor’s Earth Observation business dba Deimos Imaging (the “Acquisition”) for an aggregate price of €74.2 million, subject to customary working capital adjustments, with €69 million due at closing and €5.2 million to be paid over the next five years. To carry out the Acquisition, UrtheCast’s wholly-owned subsidiary, UrtheCast International Corp., has entered into a share purchase agreement with Elecnor and Deimos Space, S.L.U. to acquire the outstanding shares of Deimos Imaging, S.L.U. and DOT Imaging, S.L.U. (collectively, “DOT-Deimos”). DOT-Deimos owns and operates two satellites, Deimos-1 and Deimos-2. Subject to satisfaction of certain customary closing conditions, the Acquisition is expected to close on or before August 21, 2015, along with the execution of certain ancillary agreements.

“This is an incredible acquisition that epitomizes technological and operational synergy,” explained Scott Larson, UrtheCast Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. “By adding these satellites to our suite of sensors available via our web platform, significantly expanding our space operations capability – important for our recently announced SAR and Optical constellation – and merging our business development, UrtheCast is rapidly accelerating its mission to democratize Earth Observation imagery, and bring a unique dataset and distribution model to customers and users that up until now, has not been available anywhere in the marketplace.”

Acquired Business

The acquired business of DOT-Deimos comprises the Earth Observation (“EO”) satellite and imagery business of Elecnor, a publicly traded Spanish engineering and infrastructure company, which has been producing imagery since the launch and commissioning of the Deimos-1 satellite in 2009. The business consists of, among other things, the ownership and operation of the Deimos-1 and Deimos-2 EO satellites and the collection, storage, processing, analysis, distribution and licensing of the EO imagery captured by these and other satellites. DOT-Deimos has an established customer base across Europe and Latin America, including the European Space Agency (“ESA”), European governmental agencies and commercial customers in the agricultural, forestry and land use industries, among others. Currently, DOT-Deimos has approximately 50 employees with expertise in the EO industry. Upon closing the Acquisition, UrtheCast will also own the full imagery archive utilized by the acquired business, which currently consists of approximately 6.5 billion square kilometres.

Fabrizio Pirondini, Deimos Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, added: “This is a superb opportunity for all involved, and opens up a world of possibilities for our respective sales teams. The sale of EO data and value-added services is at the core of our operations, such that our synergies and objectives for this acquisition are perfectly aligned.”

The Deimos-1 satellite was launched in 2009 and provides 22-metre resolution images at 10 bits with a swath width of 650 kilometres. Deimos-1 has a collection capacity of more than 5,000,000 square-kilometres per day, with a three-day average revisit time worldwide. The Deimos-2 satellite was launched in 2014 and provides 75 cm pan-sharpened images with a swath width of 12 kilometres. Deimos-2 has a collection capacity of more than 150,000 square-kilometres per day, with a two-day average revisit time worldwide.

The combination of UrtheCast and DOT-Deimos is expected to allow UrtheCast to accelerate its own strategy. UrtheCast believes this will be achieved through the use of Deimos’ imagery archive on UrtheCast’s web platform, distributing fresh imagery through UrtheCast’s established distribution channels, customers and web platform, leveraging each company’s established relationships and building upon each other’s infrastructure.

In addition, UrtheCast and Deimos Space have signed a Mutual Cooperation Agreement that will allow both companies to look for opportunities in the market for the benefit of both companies. Deimos Space will be the exclusive provider for receiving stations for the Deimos-1 and Deimos-2 satellites. Also, under this agreement, the companies will work together on UrtheCast’s recently announced optical and SAR satellite constellation in the areas of the headquarter mission control centre, direct tasking and receive ground stations, mission analysis and flight dynamics, and in the integration and testing of the SAR payloads.

Conference Call and Webcast Information

UrtheCast will hold a conference call on June 22, 2015 at 4:30 p.m. ET. To access this conference call, please dial (416) 695-7806 or (888) 789-9572 and use the pass code 9618732. An archive of the conference call will be available on our website the following day.

Advisors

Raymond James Ltd. has acted as financial advisor to UrtheCast in connection with the Acquisition and has provided a fairness opinion to the Board of Directors.

About UrtheCast Corp.

UrtheCast Corp. is a Vancouver-based technology company that is developing the world’s first Ultra HD video feed of Earth, streamed from space in full color. Working with prominent aerospace partners from across the globe, UrtheCast has built, launched, installed, and will soon operate its Ultra HD video camera, Iris, on the ISS alongside its Medium Resolution Camera (“MRC”) which reached Initial Operation Capability (“IOC”) in 2014. Video and still image data captured by the cameras will be downlinked to ground stations across the planet and displayed on the UrtheCast web platform, or distributed directly to partners and customers. UrtheCast’s cameras will provide Ultra HD video and still imagery of Earth that will allow for monitoring of the environment, humanitarian relief, social events, agricultural land, etc. Common shares of UrtheCast trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange as ticker ‘UR’.

For more information visit UrtheCast’s website at www.urthecast.com.

About UrtheCast’s high-resolution camera Iris

UrtheCast’s High-Resolution Camera, Iris, is a multispectral imager mounted on a bi-axial pointing platform that provides a pitch/roll pointing capability to image points between ±52 degrees latitude. This allows it to capture full-color video sequences that are approximately 1m GSD and approximately 60 seconds in length through a wide range of oblique-look angles. The image size for the Video is approximately 5.5 × 3.5 km.

About UrtheCast’s medium-resolution camera Theia

UrtheCast’s MRC, Theia, is a conventional linear Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) pushbroom camera. It produces strips of medium-resolution, 4-channel multispectral imagery with a GSD of approximately 5m and a swath width of approximately 50km. Theia’s daily collection capability is approximately 29-million km².

Forward Looking Information

This release contains certain information which, as presented, constitutes “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information involves statements that relate to future events and often addresses expected future business and financial performance, containing words such as “believe”, “expect”, and “intend”, statements that an action or event “may”, “might”, “could”, “should”, or “will” be taken or occur, or other similar expressions and includes, but is not limited to, statements about the closing of the Acquisition and the satisfaction of closing conditions required therefor, the ability of UrtheCast to finance of the Acquisition, the expected benefits of completing the Acquisition, the expected lifetimes of the Deimos-1 and Deimos-2 satellites, UrtheCast’s expectations with respect to the operations of UrtheCast and Deimos following closing of the Acquisition, commissioning of Iris, plans to operate camera components on, and stream video footage from, the ISS, proposed image and video product offerings, expectations regarding the growth of commercial operations and expected partners and customers to distribute such products. Forward-looking statements and information are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the ability of UrtheCast to control or predict, and which may cause UrtheCast’s or Deimos’ actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied thereby, including, but not limited to, UrtheCast, Elecnor or Deimos Space Imaging, S.L.U. being unable to satisfy the conditions to closing the Acquisition, UrtheCast not realizing the expected strategic benefits of the Acquisition, undisclosed liabilities of the acquired business of DOT-Deimos, risks related to integration of UrtheCast and the acquired business of Deimos, risks related to the increased indebtedness of UrtheCast following payment of the purchase price of the Acquisition, the inability of UrtheCast to finance the purchase price of the Acquisition, risks related to the potential for regulatory review and unwinding of the Acquisition, risks related to the provision of Elecnor or its affiliates of transition services following completion of the Acquisition or their termination of such services, damage which may have occurred to UrtheCast’s cameras during launch or installation, delays in the Iris commissioning process, unexpected changes in Russian, Canadian or European government policies, as well as those factors discussed in the Company’s annual information form dated March 20, 2015, (the “AIF”) and the Company’s amended and restated short form base shelf prospectus dated May 11, 2015 (the “Prospectus”) which are available under UrtheCast’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking information is developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein, in the AIF and Prospectus, and as otherwise disclosed from time to time on UrtheCast’s SEDAR profile. Forward-looking information is developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein, in the AIF and Prospectus, and as otherwise disclosed from time to time on UrtheCast’s SEDAR profile. UrtheCast undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements except as may be required by applicable Canadian securities laws. Readers are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.

SOURCE UrtheCast Corp.

Other soruces

Techvibes
Spacenewsfeed

This is the 4th edition in the series.
Space Trends is the authoritative assessment of global space activity, with over 80 graphs and tables and the complete launch log of the year.

Staying true to our commitment to continuously improve our database system to enhance the assessment and analysis capabilities it provides, this year we have introduced all spacecraft launched since 1957. This has allowed us to provide a broad historic overview from the beginning of the space age to 2014.
We have furthered the contents of previous years, with the assessment of market situations from the supply and demand perspective in all market segments: institutional and commercial.

As a result this year we have included a total of 87 charts in the report (+21%). And as usual we provide our complete launch log at the end of the report: the full list of programmes we have included in the database in 2014, to give our readers the full visibility on our contents.

The report is available for purchase here
Single user licence is 149 Euro.

Firm collaborates with research scientists to map environmental calamity

Ecometrica, the world-leading sustainability software and data company, has partnered with scientists at Edinburgh Napier and other universities to build an application that will help developing world governments ensure their economic growth is ecologically sustainable.

The application, hosted on the Ecometrica Platform, collates satellite imagery to show the scale of environmental degradation to mangrove forests over time, and is being used to highlight the need for a new model of shrimp farming in the Indian Ocean and plan a more sustainable approach.

An integral part of iCoast, a research project led by Edinburgh Napier University, the publicly available tool allows the changes that have taken place to be tracked on a map. The project has collated satellite imagery of the Kenyan and Sri Lankan coastlines for a variety of dates over the last two decades and starkly illustrates how the Kalpitiya-Puttalam lagoon, part of Sri Lanka’s 1,700km coastline, has experienced rapid conversion of natural habitat to shrimp ponds over the past 20 years.

The conversion of mangrove forests into shrimp ponds has dramatically changed this site within the coastal landscape in Sri Lanka, leaving local communities at greater risk from extreme weather events like flooding and tsunamis which the mangrove belt has traditionally protected them from. Mangroves also provide habitat for marine animals such as crabs, shrimps and juvenile fish, as well as locking in large amounts of carbon.

The data also showed that the shrimp farms are generally abandoned after just a few years because of the incidence of disease in the pools, leaving a scarred landscape that is difficult for natural species to re-colonise.

Karin Viergever, Ecometrica’s head of land use and spatial analysis, and her team helped to build the application alongside iCoast’s academics, using Ecometrica Platform’s Mapping modules. She said: “The application can be accessed from anywhere in the world, and provides clear visual documentation of the damage being wrought by unsustainable farming methods. With data to show what is happening over time, it should now be possible for policymakers to steer development in a more sustainable direction.”

She added: “Our web platform allows similar maps to be built for other areas, and is already being used across a variety of projects.”

As well as mapping changes in the environment of a major wetland site in Sri Lanka since 1992, the iCoast project looked at the potential for climate compatible development (CCD) in the coastal zone and aimed to identify the right policy and regulatory framework to set coastal farming in Kenya and Sri Lanka on a more sustainable path. As part of the iCoast programme, two Sri Lankan professionals came to Scotland to train on Ecometrica’s application, and they have now returned to their native country where they will be demonstrating it to policymakers.

Professor Mark Huxham of Edinburgh Napier University, one of the leaders of the iCoast project, said: “Our study highlights the need for integrated planning in coastal areas, particularly in mangrove forests which are of huge importance for their ability to protect the coast and their tremendous ability to capture and store carbon.

“In Sri Lanka’s Puttalam Lagoon, one of the areas studied, shrimp farming increased by 2,777 per cent between 1992 and 2012, with mangroves declining by 34 per cent. But by the end of the period, most of the shrimp farms had been abandoned. None of this is sustainable, and there is now a pressing need to rehabilitate the abandoned ponds.

“There remain significant challenges in developing the right fiscal and regulatory frameworks required to deliver the incentives and governance conditions necessary for coastal zone CCD to occur through these emerging Payment for Ecosystem Services markets. Data from earth observation and mapping have huge potential to positively inform regulatory decisions, and technology such as the Ecometrica Mapping platform make applications usable and accessible to local stakeholders and policy makers.”

The iCoast project was funded by the Climate & Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) and carried out by Edinburgh Napier University, LTS International, University of Birmingham in the UK, the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), and Ruhuna University in Sri Lanka, in collaboration with Ecometrica. All satellite data was donated to the project by Planet Action. The application is available on https://icoast.ourecosystem.com

Ends

Attached ‘Puttalam 17 Nov 2007.jpg’ picture caption:

Zoomed excerpt of image taken by SPOT satellite on 17 November 2007. The angular shapes are used (dark coloured, showing the presence of water) and disused (bright coloured) shrimp ponds. The large light blue-coloured patch towards the bottom of the picture represents salt pans while on the opposite side of the pond, the light red patch shows a coconut plantation. Dark red patches close to the water around the bay and on the islands indicate the presence of mangrove vegetation. © CNES 2007, Distribution Spot Image S.A., France, all rights reserved.

Vegetation is shown in red, as the satellite acquires near-infrared wavelengths additional to colour wavelengths. Since healthy vegetation reflects a lot of near infrared, this information can be used to monitor vegetation health. Showing near infrared reflectance in red makes healthy vegetation appear red.

Distributed by The Communications Business on behalf of Ecometrica.

For further information, please contact Denise Hannestad, The Communications Business on behalf of Ecometrica. Tel +44 (0) 131 208 1500 or DeniseH@thecommunicationsbusiness.com

Editors Notes

About Ecometrica

Ecometrica is a leading sustainability software and data company with offices in the UK, USA and Canada. We provide sustainability, mapping and reporting software to governments, NGOs and some of the world’s biggest and most complex multi-national businesses. The Ecometrica platform brings together innovative sustainability software and a team of recognised experts in sustainability data and reporting

Ecometrica is one of the most recognised sustainability management brands in the world, as voted by the Global 500. In 2013 and 2014 global surveys of senior environment, health and safety (EH&S) and sustainability decision makers, conducted by the analyst firm, Verdantix, Ecometrica was ranked as a leading brand for both EH&S and Sustainability Management Services, alongside companies like Microsoft, Oracle, IBM and SAP.

Following an independent review by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ecometrica became the first sustainability management company to secure assurance of audit readiness in line with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000, and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales’ Code of Ethics, for the Ecometrica platform.

© Geoff Sawyer Blog: We have been claiming for some time that it is essential to develop a formal dialogue between the industry and key decision makers; particularly those in the European Commission but also with ESA and Member States. Up to now, industry views have only been provided through specific meetings, corridor talk and only in an informal fashion.

We have been claiming for some time that it is essential to develop a formal dialogue between the industry and key decision makers; particularly those in the European Commission but also with ESA and Member States. Up to now, industry views have only been provided through specific meetings, corridor talk and only in an informal fashion.

Finally, the EC is prepared to establish a mechanism to engage with the industry and discussions have started about establishing a “structured dialogue” around space. As an input to the thinking on this we have developed some views on what are the key lines that need to be discussed. These are contained in our latest position paper on “Developing the Downstream EO Services Sector in Europe”. The paper can be downloaded here or from our web-site where all EARSC position papers can be found.

We have categorised the
1. Leverage Copernicus and improve the public-private interface
2. Research and Development
3. Market Structure and Uptake

Read more at Geoff´s Blog Developing the Downstream Sector

Download the position paper EARSC views on European Geospatial services: Developing the Private Sector Capability

We are pleased to announce the launch of the EARSC Certification scheme designed to help companies achieve management certification specifically adapted to the EO services industry.

The Scheme is intended as a catalyst to help companies offering services based on satellite Earth Observation data and provide confidence to their customers. It is applicable to all sizes of EO companies and allows the possibility of certification to scheme requirements without the need for full ISO9001 compliance.

Industry benefits will be focus on: – best practices for core processes – EARSC maintaining a list of appropriately trained and experienced certification bodies – exposure to potential customers by listing on the EARSC certified companies list – smaller companies are subject to less audit time certified to the EARSC Scheme than they do under ISO9001 – resulting in lower cost of entry into the market

Customers benefits will be focus on: – accessing to a list of companies successfully completing assessment – accessing a list of companies providing product information in a common format allowing comparison of like with like – continually maturing and improving EO Industry, increasing trust – future understanding on a common format for product specifications (DRD)

EARSC representes the Earth Observation geo-information services companies in Europe. Today EARSC has 75 members coming from more than 22 countries in Europe. Our members include both commercial operators of EO satellites, IT, downstream and value-adding companies. The sector plays a key role in providing value-added geo-spatial information to its customers in Europe and the world. In 2014, the revenue of the European EO services sector is estimated to be around €900m for approximatively 450 companies and giving work to over 6500 highly skilled employees. www.earsc.org

GAF AG has been presented with the EARSC Company Achievement Award during the occasion of the pre General Assembly cocktail, held on 16th June in Brussels.


left to right: Christian Hoffmann, Geoville (Winner 2014 EARSC achievement Award), G. Sawyer (EARSC Secretary General), Stefan Saradeth and Markus Probeck (GAF AG and Winner 2015 EARSC achievement Award) and Han Wensink (EARSC Chairman)

EARSC has thereby recognised GAF AG as the company to have made the most significant contribution to the development of the Earth Observation sector in Europe.

The criteria used for the selection of the winning company were:

  • Has successfully developed EO services for a target market (sector or geographic)
  • Has made a strong contribution to a defining European programme (eg. Copernicus, Inspire, ESA GSE
    projects, etc) 

  • Has exhibited good revenue and/or employment growth. 

    Nominations for the award were collected from EARSC members who then vote and the winner has been selected by an international, independent jury of EO sector representatives.

GAF AG is a leading geo-information company with an international reputation as a skilled provider of data, products and services in the fields of geo-information, spatial IT and consulting for private and public clients. As a result of a merger with its former subsidiary Euromap GmbH, GAF has become the exclusive supplier of optical Indian Remote Sensing data in Europe. The company’s archives contain systematic coverages of Europe and northern Africa from 1996 onwards, and include satellite raw data from the high and medium resolution IRS missions IRS1C, IRS-1D, Resourcesat-1, Resourcesat-2 and Cartosat-1. GAF is also specialised in the production of orthoimage mosaics and digital elevation models from different high and very-high resolution satellite missions. The company is part of the Telespazio Group, which belongs to Finmeccanica and Thales, two major European technology firms. www.gaf.de

EARSC represents the Earth Observation geo-information services companies in Europe. Today EARSC has 75 members coming from more than 22 countries in Europe. Our members include both commercial operators of EO satellites, IT, downstream and value-adding companies. The sector plays a key role in providing value-added geo- spatial information to its customers in Europe and the world. In 2014, the revenue of the European EO services sector is estimated to be around €900m for approximatively 450 companies and giving work to over 6500 highly skilled employees. www.earsc.org