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(April 3, 2011) Aratos participation: The FP7 Environment project “GEO Capacity Building Initiative in Central Asia” (SEOCA) organized the project Federated Conference comprising the following events:

  • International seminar of Central Asian Universities and other educational stakeholders: “New scientific and educational technologies in the field of Earth Observation”. The seminar brought together University representatives from all 5 countries of Central Asia and their colleagues from the EU in order to discuss the modern curricular relevant to the topic. Also, the seminar included the roundtable discussions “Modern technologies of EO information processing” and “Environment monitoring by using small satellites”. The project partners from Germany, Greece and Turkey presented the European curricula and technologies.
  • Demonstration workshop “GEONETcast technologies for environment monitoring”. The representatives of Central Asian organizations interested in application of GEONETCast low-cost terminals for educational needs as well as for real-life applications in environment and natural disasters monitoring have been acquainted with the GEONETCast system capacities
  • Training workshop “GEO: Global efforts and regional impact” aimed to provide training to National GEO offices in all 5 countries of Central Asia. As a result it is expected that the regional contribution to GEO, as well as engagement of regional stakeholders with GEO activities was significantly strengthen.

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Recent news


Aerodata supports wildlife rescue center (Mar 28th, 2011)

Wildlife is getting more and more susceptible to injuries due to the urbanization in Flanders. Wounded, ill and orphaned birds and other wildlife deserve a second chance and are taken into care by Flemish wildlife rescue centers (Opvangcentra voor Vogels en Wilde Dieren; licensed by Vogelbescherming Vlaanderen). In the region of Antwerp, this center is located in Brasschaat. Started in 2006 with only a few volunteers, it has now grown to a voluntary team of 30 motivated people, treating about 2500 animals every year. When the animals are fully recovered or grown up, they are released back into nature. With a growing team, the center has now the need of moving to a bigger and better equipped location, and so be able to treat more animals in a more efficient way. Dependent on gifts, this is a big challenge for the center, and therefore Aerodata supports them by donating a yearly gift.

Aerodata provides the Port of Antwerp a 6-metre wide aerial of the port (Feb 7th, 2011)

The Antwerp Port Authority opened this weekend the visitors’ centre at the Port Pavilion at the foot of the Museum aan de Stroom (MAS). The main attraction of the Pavilion is a 6-metre wide aerial image of the port on the floor. Visitors can see for themselves just how extensive the port is, particularly in comparison with the Antwerp downtown area, by just walking on top of the illuminated floor.

Aerodata provided the authority with this orthophoto mosaic. The images were acquired at a flying height of 5000m (16400 ft, 15cm GSD) with one of Aerodata’s VisionMap A³ camera systems in the spring of 2010. The captured area extends the port of Antwerp and goes southwards all the way to the city of Mechelen, which city services also make use of this unique dataset.

Thermal Mobile Mapping (Feb 7th, 2011)

Aerodata, ITC and imajing companies are proud to announce the Thermal Mobile Mapping system. The system is designed to survey building facades by driving a car with an on board thermal camera at normal traffic speed.

After several years of experience resulting in great references such as Paris, Bordeaux, Nice, Grenoble, etc., aerial thermography mapping became a specialty of the Aerodata/ITC partnership. The end product displays a unique view on heat losses from building roofs, representing about 1/3 of the total heat loss of a building. Facades which may represent up to 30-50% of losses can now also be added to this product.
Up to now, such complementary survey was only achievable on foot with a handheld scanner and therefore slow and inefficient. Aiming to extend such survey to all buildings of larger areas, Aerodata, ITC and imajing joint their forces to couple a FLIR Infrared camera with the compact Imajbox mobile mapping system. The thermal images are associated with accurate geographic positions enabling detailed measurements (using photogrammetric measurements) and even 3D objects extraction. From these images, heat engineers from ITC can precisely identify thermal anomalies on facades (insulation problems, air leakage, etc.). The main goal is to increase public awareness and to stimulate energy efficiency measures.

Well done mates: Sydney survey completed in just 3 days! (Feb 2nd, 2011)

Aerodata International Surveys (AIS) first big 2011 achievement has been realized! 4,000 sqkm of the Sydney basin area has been captured @10 and 20 cm resolution in only 3 flying days, using AIS’s revolutionary VisionMap A3 camera.

Not only the flight mission burned nearly half the carbon dioxide if a conventional aerial survey camera was used, but it also provided oblique viewing thanks to the camera unique sweeping technology. The camera’s key benefits of high resolution which fits between very high resolution low altitude airborne sensors and high resolution space sensors is found in the ability of flying large areas in minimum time without compromising on quality and accuracy. From 10 cm to 35 cm GSD, Aerodata can produce rapidly cost-effective orthophotos and oblique viewing of large areas in nearly half of the time of any other large format digital mapping sensor.

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Multi-layer Natural Resources and Land Use Database and Map for Darfur / obsAIRve


GAF to establish a multi-layer Natural Resources and Land Use Database and Map for Darfur (21.03.2011)

GAF has been awarded a contract by the Darfur Land Commission (DLC) to set up a Natural Resources and Land Use Database and Map for the whole of Darfur.

The overall objective of this project is the establishment of a multi-layered and dynamic state-of-the-art natural resources information system that provides basic land management and planning information and thereby will enable decision makers to develop and manage Darfur’s natural resources in a sustainable way. The DLC was established on 13th July 2007, as an integral part of the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority (TDRA), in order to address traditional and historical issues of land tenure and to review natural resources management. The TDRA, the interim authority for the Darfur region of Sudan, was established in April 2007 under the terms of the Darfur Peace Agreement signed in May 2006. It is based in Khartoum and has branch offices in the three states of Darfur.

The TDRA is defined by the Darfur Peace Agreement as being the principal instrument for the implementation of that agreement and is tasked with enhancing coordination and cooperation among the three Darfur states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur. Its primary responsibilities include facilitating the return of refugees and internally displaced persons, coordinating the restoration of security, and promoting peace and reconciliation.Generally, the Natural Resources and Land Use Database and Map for Darfur Project aims to increase the government’s long-term institutional and technical capacity to manage Darfur’s natural resources, including agricultural land, natural areas, forests, minerals, water, cities, towns and villages. This will establish a basis for poverty reduction and also rural economic renewal in selected areas of the country, via the development of non-farm and farm income, thereby improving the social and economic welfare of the community and promoting a better environment.

This database will help decision makers and planners to establish plans for agricultural development and other land livelihood initiatives and to select the potentially most productive areas for investment and development projects. With a comprehensive capacity building component, the project will also enable the key rural and urban development and planning institutions to perform their tasks efficiently.

Dr. Peter Volk, CEO of GAF, comments, “We are very happy about the award of such an important project relating to the Darfur Peace Agreement. This multi-thematic project comprises geology and minerals, geomorphology, soils and land suitability, water resources, ecological and biological information, land cover, land use and socioeconomic conditions. The provision of such a broad range of expertise is one of the outstanding strengths of GAF.” Eng. Adam Abdel Rahman Ahmed, Commission President, states, “We are very happy that such a worthwhile project is to be implemented that gives the people of Sudan in general and the people of Darfur in particular great expectations with regard the realisation of peace and stability. Such an unprecedented project will no doubt be seen as revolutionary throughout the whole Sudan as a unique example which could be replicated in other parts of the country. To conclude, when the project has reached a successful end, DLC expects to play a great role in maintaining sustainable development and peace in the region, thus leading to the solving of major problems with regards to natural resources and land use.”

obsAIRve – Europe-wide air quality monitoring and forecasting (28.01.2011)

GAF AG has been awarded a contract by the European Commission to develop “obsAIRve”. In its role as consortium leader, this project will involve GAF together with the partners T-Systems, German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Umweltbundesamt (Austria) designing and developing a new air quality system for the European public.

Air pollution directly affects the health and quality of life of human beings – on local, regional and global levels. Hundreds of thousands of premature deaths each year in Europe are caused by fine particles in the air. In addition air pollution is responsible for the formation of harmful trace gases like ozone (the so called summer smog) and can cause acid rain.

Monitoring and forecasting of air quality are essential for the prevention and avoidance of risks, as well as for the provision of warnings. Reliable air quality forecasts covering periods of up to 3 days are now possible by combining satellite based and in situ observation data using statistical computations and numerical models. “obsAIRve” will apply results obtained from Europe’s superior air quality forecast systems. This will ensure one uniform European air quality service providing real-time and user-friendly data across Europe.

The main intended user groups are citizens, the health and leisure sector as well as public authorities. “obsAIRve” will disseminate air quality information via dedicated web portals and mobile applications using T-Systems ICT infrastructure. The information will enrich existing services such as weather and environmental portals. Additionally, individual notifications will be available to specific user groups on request. This enables people at risk to behave according to environmental conditions.

“obsAIRve” intends to bridge the gap between research results of GMES related projects and the European public. The awareness of the citizens for environmental issues and activities of the European Commission shall be increased by setting up dedicated marketing campaigns at the European level. “obsAIRve” is part of the European “GMES” initiative. The project will initially be financed by the European Commission as a pilot project for a period of three years.

Project-Partners:
Consortium:

German Aerospace Center (DLR) is responsible for all of Germany’s space related activities, including satellite launching, data reception and the carrying out of research at the forefront of modern space based technology. Through its German Remote Sensing Data Centre, DLR offers cutting edge climate and atmospheric products and related services. For more details please refer to the websites: www.dlr.de/eoc and wdc.dlr.de

Umweltbundesamt (Environment Agency Austria) will participate as a partner from the institutional sector. It will provide its expertise in the fields of air quality and the assessment of human health. Its long experience in GMES-related projects, especially regarding user and stakeholder inclusion and communication, will also add value to the project. More on Umweltbundesamt: www.umweltbundesamt.at

T-Systems: Drawing on a global infrastructure of data centers and networks, T-Systems operates information and communication technology (ICT) systems for multinational corporations and public sector institutions and provides integrated solutions for the networked future of business and society. Some 45,300 employees at T-Systems combine industry expertise with ICT innovations to add significant value to customers’ core business all over the world. The corporate customers unit generated revenue of around EUR 8.8 billion in the 2009 financial year. www.t-systems.com

Supporting Partners:

  • Info-Logika (Bulgaria)
  • AIRPARIF (France)
  • DCMR (The Netherlands)
  • EGMASA (Spain)
  • Mobility Service Agency for the City of Rome (Italy)

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(RapidEye) As a remote sensing company, we can only hope that through the technology we have access to, we can reduce the complexity of the situation for the people on the ground in Japan and elsewhere.

Unexpected Circumstances

When you work with geospatial information, there will be days when all of your scheduled meetings and regular everyday tasks seem insignificant. Your business will be focused in an area that you were not expecting, because every EO company is in the disaster monitoring business. It’s inevitable.

March 11, 2011 was definitely one of those days at RapidEye. A disastrous event occurring almost 9,000 kilometers from Brandenburg, Germany suddenly became the focus of many of RapidEye’s 130 team members.

As of April 1, it has been named the “Tōhoku” earthquake and tsunami by the Japanese government, which literally means “Eastern Japan Great Earthquake Disaster”. One month has passed since it occurred, and for many who live there or are involved in relief and cleanup efforts, the crisis is far from over.

The Japanese earthquake and resulting tsunami were the first topic of discussions in the offices that Friday. Many employees had already heard about it as they made their way to the office and were watching or reading news on the Internet.

The BBC was showing live footage of the tsunami via helicopter by the NHK (the Japanese Broadcasting Association). Offices were hushed as a small group gathered around a computer monitor, watching vehicles on local roads as people tried to escape the approaching water and were engulfed by it. Massive ships were being pushed onto land and houses were swept away. It was clear that hundreds of thousands of lives would be affected and lost by the unfolding event. The devastation was unbelievable. Now was the time for RapidEye to come together as a team and take action. It was expected, and it was something we could do to help from half a world away.

Rapid Response

RapidEye’s Business Operations team immediately began scanning the RapidEye Library, an ever-growing archive of RapidEye satellite imagery, to see what images were available from before the event. In addition, there were impromptu discussions within the company as to how quickly the satellites could be tasked to cover Japan’s northeastern coast. Decisions on the management level were made, and the satellites were redirected to the affected areas.

Acquiring imagery almost immediately after an event such as this is crucial to relief agencies as they manage the disaster on the ground. It was obvious early on that relief efforts and rescue operations would be massive and that the devastation would far exceed that of the Chilean earthquake in 2010, almost exactly one year before.

The International Charter, an organization providing a unified system of space data acquisition and delivery, was activated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), one of its eight international members. As a result, The Center for Satellite Based Crisis Information (ZKI), part of the German Aerospace Agency (DLR), contacted RapidEye for data. They requested as many before and after images of the eastern seaboard of Japan as could be acquired.

On Saturday, March 12, the first images were taken by the RapidEye constellation of satellites at 11:20 local time. A weekend crew was in-house to manage the incoming data from Japan, deliver them to the International Charter through the ZKI and distribute a press announcement to its worldwide media contacts.

The press release alerted organizations involved in emergency efforts that RapidEye currently had imagery of the eastern coastline of Japan. The response to the press release was international.

Increasing Public Interest in EO

During the following week, RapidEye fielded calls and visits from many local and international media outlets. Television appearances about RapidEye and its involvement in Japan relief efforts were highlighted on German television through Tagesschau, Planetopia, the ZDF and RBB (Berlin/Brandenburg).

Newspaper and online media outlets such as Spiegel Online, The Financial Times, Berlin’s Tagesspiegel and even New York-based CBS news were interested in RapidEye and its imagery. Much media attention was focused on EO imagery from providers such as RapidEye in regard to the benefits of using remote sensing to best direct relief efforts, as well as how change detection mapping can be produced with before and after imagery.

Using the two accompanying RapidEye images as an example, you will find the port city of Kesennuma, located in the Miyagi Prefecture. Both use the color Infrared (CIR) band to highlight areas of vegetation. In the ‘before’ image you will see that there is much vegetation throughout the city (grass, trees, agricultural fields, etc.). Even when taking into account the seasonal vegetative differences, the CIR images highlight the dramatic differences in both urban and agricultural areas before and immediately after the tsunami.

Doing What We Can

The Japanese tsunami inundated a total area of approximately 470 km² according to the NHK (the Japanese Broadcasting Association). Since March 11, over 563,000 km² of Japan, including many multiple coverages, have been imaged by RapidEye. The area has been collected by the satellite constellation over eleven days of the last 30, which resulted in a collection of over 150 tiles 25 × 25 km in size.

There is no question that natural disasters have been on the rise in recent years, but there will never come a time when an event of this magnitude will become routine. Every person and every company involved in the disaster management arena knows that these situations cannot be avoided. As a remote sensing company, we can only hope that through the technology we have access to, we can reduce the complexity of the situation for the people on the ground in Japan and elsewhere.

As of this week, over 28,000 lives have been lost as a direct result of “Tōhoku”. Disaster management may not be the most lucrative part of operating a satellite imagery and solutions company such as RapidEye, however, there is always the humanitarian desire to help when you can. Additionally, whenever possible, the EO community has a moral obligation to assist a governmental or civilian organization in any aspect of managing a crisis, if and when disaster strikes.

About RapidEye
RapidEye is a provider of quality high-resolution satellite imagery and solutions derived from its imagery. With a constellation of five Earth Observation satellites, RapidEye images over 4 Million square kilometers of Earth every day, and has amassed almost 2 Billion square kilometers in its Library in just over two years of commercial operation. With an unprecedented combination of wide area repetitive coverage and five meter pixel size multi-spectral imagery, RapidEye is a natural choice for many industries and government agencies. www.rapideye.de

The Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing (IEEE J-STARS) is looking for papers for a special issue on “Interoperability architectures and arrangements for multi-disciplinary Earth Observation systems and applications”.

The deadline for submission is 1 June 2011.

Among other areas, papers are solicited in comprehensive and inclusive solutions for multi-disciplinary Earth Observation capabilities addressing national and international spatial data infrastructure initiatives such as INSPIRE (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community) or GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security).

Further details are available INSPIRE

(Source GMES.INFO)

Significant social and economic changes take place nowadays in the modern society. Those changes are first of all connected to rampant development of knowledge-intensive production. The key success factor for establishment of “new economy” is proactive adoption of new ideas, systems and technologies, readiness to promptly realize scientific developments into production. This provides for necessity of constant personnel reeducation and sets out new requirements to levels of specialist training. New requirements arise with regard to the processes of integrating science, education and business.

The center for this integration shall be constituted by Universities. Presently, universities provide grounds for interactive structures (technoparks, business incubators, scientific test sites, consulting organizations), that demonstrate prospects of the trilateral interaction.

In developed countries universities are legally competent subjects of national and regional development per many indices along with government authorities and economic structures.

In Russia, the processes of integrating science, education and business are not developing as rapidly as they are in the west.

This is due to the fact that partners have difficulties in casting away historical stereotypes being a disincentive to innovative activities.

In addition, in recent years the segment of “Innovative” universities has already taken shape, where quite a few technologies and corresponding products were developed utilizing results of scientific research and experimental design works, which can be commercialized even today.

Since the first day of its functioning (1989) the ScanEx Research and Development Center has come to understanding of the need to interact with educational institutions and scientific organizations.

Taking into account that current rampant development and introduction of space-based Earth observation facilities and GIS-technologies requires training of highly professional contemporary specialists, in the past few years ScanEx RDC have supplied UniScan ground stations to over 20 high educational institutions in Russia, Kazakhstan and Spain. Those stations served as basis for creating scientific and educational centers for space monitoring, which now provide training and refresher training of specialists with modern knowledge in Earth remote sensing and geoinformation systems, as well as training on real-time satellite imagery-based technologies supporting decision-making process.

Another activity exercised on the basis of space monitoring centers is implementation of fundamental and applied research on scientific research specializations. In addition a center of this kind ensures maximum efficiency in regular monitoring of local and neighboring regions in near real-time mode and display information received by the station on the geoportal for further analysis and decision-making by economic entities in the area of nature management, agriculture, land-property relations, town-planning practice, road construction, infrastructure building, etc.

Nonetheless, centers of space monitoring already established throughout universities are currently functioning as stand-alone entities, without cooperation with each other. Lack of interaction and exchange of experience between space monitoring centers of the universities discourage their intensive development. In late 2010 ScanEx RDC put forward the idea of creating the university-based network of space monitoring centers. The idea was supported by many higher education institutions, where such space monitoring centered have already been installed (fig. 1): Belgorod State University, Northern Arctic Federal University, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Urals Federal University (fig. 2), Samara State Aerospace University, Siberian Federal University, Kazakh-British Technical University, University of Valencia (Spain), University of Valladolid (Spain), etc.

A seminar “From RS Ground Station to Integration and Network Solution” took place on February 4-11, 2011, participated by representatives from leading Russian universities, federal and regional governmental authorities, business communities and foreign partners from Turkey and France.

The seminar participants noted with satisfaction the increasing role of leading Russian universities in preparations of highly-qualified specialists, in better refresher training of personnel for different economic industries, in development and introduction of domestic technologies and software applications, in creation of geoportal services for conservation of nature, research and monitoring of the environment and industrial processes, commercialization of intellectual activities’ results, etc.

Technology of direct reception of data from Earth observation satellites has been currently used in this way or another in all Federal Districts of the Russian Federation. However, further efficient development of existing university-based network of space monitoring centers requires coordination of their activities in order to resolve current tasks. First of all, those are the issues of working out a joint strategy of development and introduction of technology innovations and methods of Earth remote sensing from space, solution of international legal issues related to remote sensing, optimization of expenses and license costs, entitling reception of data and upgrading of receiving channels, joint participation in international projects and programs, commercialization of remote sensing results.

Operating as stand-alone entities these centers face the need to tackle similar problems. In particular, in Russia the universities have to address to the Russian Federal Space Agency to get licenses for data reception and processing.

The Russian Law on “Space Activities” integrates the data reception and processing. Does the data processing actually have something to do with space activity? Nowadays, organizations, having the technology of data reception from RS satellites, including universities, have to obtain respective licenses. In European countries the legislation in sphere of space activities and operations with remote sensing data is more clear and transparent. However, both Russian and foreign universities have to share experience with each other in remote sensing. This will allow avoiding duplication of work and increasing the efficiency of introducing space technology into scientific and educational process.

Integration of university-based centers of space monitoring will enable to resolve the most important task of access to information resources. In particular, financial expenses of each university can be essentially reduced when acquiring space images. Specialists will then be able to contribute their intellect and energy in scientific, educational and economic solutions based on space images.

The activities to create the university-based network of space monitoring centers are ongoing. Universities from different countries, interested in integration in sphere of space technology, may become a part of it.

More information about the university-based centers of space monitoring, as well as about the practical implementation into scientific and educational process of satellite imagery data can be learnt at the 5th International Conference “Earth from Space – the Most Effective Solutions”, which is to take place in Moscow, Russia from November 28 to December 1, 2011. More details about this coming event are available at the conference website: http://www.conference.scanex.ru/index.php/en.html.

Figures
Fig. 1. Space monitoring centers installed in Universities
Fig. 2. UniScan antenna system on roof of a building at the Urals Federal University (Yekaterinburg, Russia)

by Marina Sergeeva, ScanEx RDC, www.scanex.ru

TOWARD A EUROPEAN SPACE-SPECIFIC INDUSTRIAL POLICY food for thought paper from the European space industry

SPACE MARKETS

Unlike its international competitors, European Space industry heavily relies on the commercial business – mainly civil communications but also services and remote sensing applications – where it makes a significant, although highly variable, share of its turnover. Actually, the European Space industry demonstrates its competitiveness by getting almost half of the global open market, having in mind that the latter represents just a fraction of the overall global market, be it in the field of satellites or launch services.

Actually, commercial markets help industry keeping the critical mass of activity to safeguard some critical competencies. It thus contributes to the availability of the required technologies and skills at affordable conditions to meet the requirements of future European public Space systems and services.

Member states and European institutions are generally aware that, however satisfying, this situation remains tense with the on-going aggressive return of the US industry in this area when US public funds for military programmes are getting scarce, or with the future emergence of newcomers like India or China which might become fierce competitors once major national objectives assigned to their Space industries have been fulfilled.

In this respect, public support must continue to accompany the evolution of the sector and maintain its competitiveness.

Institutional programmes are key drivers for the development of new technologies, would it be in the field of Earth sciences, astronomy, Space exploration or Security and Defence. No commercial market can sustain the level of investment required to keep up with the evolution of technical requirements in these areas, and only institutional programmes can bear the level of risk associated to the in-orbit qualification of the new technologies at stake.

The fact that industry needs a sustained institutional market is indisputable. The corollary is that institutions must assume the major role they play in the structuring of Space industry through adequate industrial policies.

As long as the market cannot offer a stable framework to industry, the implementation of Article 189 of the Lisbon Treaty comes along with the setting up of an adequate Space specific industrial policy to safeguard the security of supply that European public sector needs for the implementation of its policies in an efficient and cost-effective way.

It all starts with R&D which is publicly funded everywhere in the world.

FROM INDUSTRIAL POLICY TO PROCUREMENT POLICY

After an initial phase when Space activities were fully endorsed by public bodies, the European Space industrial sector was deemed mature enough to allow for lesser involvement of governments, and there was a broad shift toward privatisation of the quasi totality of European Space industry.

Once governments deprived for their full control over industry, “industrial” policy quickly turned into “procurement” policy. In this new paradigm, the overarching rule has been to formalise a clear customer/provider relationship between public bodies and industry and to rely to the largest extent on open and transparent competition processes – within the limits of the Geographical Return obligations as far as ESA is concerned. In this new context, R&D policy is increasingly a tool to ensure the competitiveness of the European industrial base.

A LIMITED EUROPEAN DOMESTIC MARKET

As compared with the situation of other space faring nations, the European institutional market alone is insufficient to sustain a self reliant industrial capacity. As a matter of fact, overall European institutional Space budgets have been at best stagnating over the last decade. Europe in Space is currently losing ground to most, if not all other Space faring nations.

In this respect, the Space competence of the Union and the budgets it will hopefully devote to the concrete implementation of the European Space Policy are opportunities to enlarge the European domestic market and reduce the drawback European Space industry suffers on the global market.

The European Commission has made a remarkable job in identifying where space resources will contribute to many of EU public policies in areas as varied as maritime security, border surveillance, environment monitoring and climate change, resources management, etc…

Beyond the deployment of Space infrastructures, which is a necessary and preliminary condition, a mechanism must be defined so that concrete data and services are actually procured to serve these objectives.

In this respect, the recent multi-billion-dollar contract committed by the US government for their(its) future needs in Space imagery represents a major competitive advantage to the US providers in this domain. This shows the limits of a purely market driven policy.

Ultimately, a European Space industrial policy shall encompass the downstream sector to ensure the future development of a robust domestic market in the field of Space-based services.

SUPPORT TO COMPETITIVENESS

European space industry, despite to the shrinking R&D support from member States and ESA, maintains a world-class technological level. These capabilities position Europe at the forefront of Space and Earth sciences and empower the European industry on the commercial markets.

In this context, support to the competitiveness of the whole supply chain of the European Space industry is the major challenge to be taken up in terms of industrial policy. Such support shall not take the form of subsidies, but must be addressed through an adequate R&D policy and must be organised Europe-wide to ensure that European industry will continue to keep up with its international rivals, strongly backed by massive domestic markets.

The objective is to guarantee that the European Space industry will have access at reasonable and risk mitigated conditions to the top level technologies it needs. From this perspective, it is complementary to the general Research and Innovation orientation of most of the public Space R&T programmes.

As a matter of fact, with the noticeable exception of the ESA GSTP and ARTES programmes, public R&T support mostly addresses advanced technologies in their early phases while support to competitiveness should also address, in a coordinated EU approach, the following steps of developments where technologies are matured and fully qualified in products readily available to industry and programmes.

From this stand point a European initiative to provide a framework for the maturation of Space technologies, and ultimately to their full qualification in orbit would foster the current European Space R&D policies.

TECHNOLOGICAL DEPENDENCE

In many respects, supporting European Space industry competitiveness and addressing the issue of technological dependence of Europe converge on common objectives as both issues deal with access to leading edge technologies which condition the ability of European industry to be present on all potentially accessible markets.

From a historical perspective, it is interesting to note that unlike all other space faring nations, Europe didn’t put much emphasis on non-dependence. As a matter of fact, United States, Russia, China, India, or Japan have all clearly set the objective of full independence in Space as a high level priority. In this respect, the work of the Joint EC/ESA/EDA Task Force needs to be continued and its recommendations must be implemented.

Eventually, as long as other space powers do not object, it is obvious that the global market can provide for most of the technologies needed. This is in particular the case as far as Space science and open commercial business are concerned.

Actually, technological dependence does not only hamper industry competitiveness. In a tougher competitive international framework, it might also question the capacity of Europe to get access to the top performance systems and services it deserves for the implementation of its domestic policies, would it be in the field of knowledge society, resources management or security in Space and on Earth.

Ultimately, non-dependence is a matter of sovereignty. It raises the issue of the role that Europe intends to play on the international scene. As a matter of fact, it conditions its capability to undertake autonomous activities or collaborations with other space faring nations in Space without beforehand submitting requests for utilization of technologies to non-European suppliers.

A reflection should also be initiated to define the criteria which qualify a product as being “European”.

From this standpoint, it must be stressed that the rule of co-funding is generally not adapted to addressing sovereignty issues as such technologies do not most often offer a sufficient level of recurring applications for industry to justify the investment.

WORK WITH THE ACTUAL INDUSTRIAL PATTERN

Basically, in a context of absence of growth, the development of the European space industry fuelled by the continued R&T support of member States leads in several areas to a situation of structural overcapacity.

Antagonist forces are then at work:

  • On one hand, institutions seek multiple potential sources to stimulate competition for the benefit of their future procurements,
  • On the other hand, in a limited and flat – if not depleting – market, where major long-term procurements are scarce, industry, in an attempt to keep the critical mass and ensure the continuity of the workload in its critical skills, tends to concentrate.

A Europe-wide Space specific industrial policy shall thus account for the limited and not expanding size of the market to organise competition wherever and whenever possible between European players, and encourage new entrants only when they come up with innovative solutions and technologies, and in a seamless manner for on-going activities.

ESA AND UNION: TWO DIFFERENT PROCUREMENT APPROACHES

ESA procurement policy takes into account the origin of the funds in the awarding of contracts through the Geo Return rules.

It also integrates key objectives of industrial policy such as preserving the industrial base or targeting R&T developments in the perspective of potential needs of its future programmes.

On EU side, the general rule is to fully open competition for its procurements. This principle needs to be adapted to the Space specific context as it was done for Galileo.

It presupposes the existence of multiple potential providers to actually enable open competition and ignores formal Geographical Return rules or industrial policy objectives.

ESA procurement policy has proven to be successful in many respects and is not challenged for scientific and technological optional programmes based on the willingness of member States to join resources to achieve ambitious objectives. It shows its limits when it comes to the deployment of operational infrastructures- like Galileo and GMES – raising commercial, industrial, political and/or strategic stakes.

Regarding these future operational European Space infrastructures for instance, it is vital to set up with no delay clearly identified operators which are indispensable to:

  • Ensure the proper interface between the Space agencies, service providers and end-users,
  • Take up the responsibility for long-term operations and adaptation of the infrastructure,
  • Ensure the delivery of continuous data to service users,
  • Maximise opportunities for the development of commercial services.

This is where EU timely and opportunely steps in to provide a sustainable framework through adequate regulations and budgets.

Europe will most likely live with the coexistence of EU and ESA in space. Therefore, their respective roles need to be clarified through clear regulations.

In this respect, it is particularly important to industry to have a consistent and adapted industrial policy and transparent and stable procurement regulations.

Moreover, the intergovernmental structure of ESA, together with the capacity of member States to invest in Space should be preserved in the governance model to be developed to ensure additionality with the budgets which Union will devote to Space applications and research.

NEED FOR A SPACE SPECIFIC PROCUREMENT APPROACH

The procurement approaches implemented by ESA and EU should be consistent and cope with the specificities of the space sector.

Furthermore, independence of Europe in Space relies on the availability of a sustained supply chain. Security of supply should thus be a major concern in the future European Space policy regarding critical technologies.

Therefore, EU procurement process should be based on a dedicated European industrial policy aiming at:

  • Safeguarding the European capability to conceive, develop, launch, operate and exploit Space systems,
  • Strengthening the competitiveness, efficiency, reliability of the European Space industry,
  • Enhancing the European technological non-dependence in the Space sector,
  • Ensuring the sustainability of the sector through long term commitments and stability and predictability of rules and budgets, including the preference to use European means and assets,
  • Contributing to a balanced industrial development across Europe.

Such industrial policy must of course build on existing European leading edge industrial and technological capabilities.

It should also account for the practises of all other space faring nations which actually rely to the largest extent on their sole domestic industrial capabilities to fulfil the needs of their national civil and defence Space programmes. Worldwide, the Space market cannot be considered as an open business, and the commercial market, where European industry has been very successful so far, represents just a fraction of the total.

Therefore, all efforts shall be made to level the playing field with worldwide competitors. In this respect, opening the European market shall be conditioned to reciprocity measures to ensure an open and fair access of the European industry to non-European institutional markets. This should include the preferred use of existing and future European Space assets such as launch services, Space constellations, etc…

Moreover, such procurement policies should build on the outcome of the ongoing R&T harmonisation process undertaken by ESA and member States and integrate measures in favour of a greater involvement of SMEs in the development of services, accounting for the additional difficulty for small companies to overcome the technological barrier in Space hardware development and qualification. However, such measures should not be limited to encouraging newcomers, which in some areas just leads to overcapacity.

The European Space Industry definitely supports European-wide open and fair competition for the awarding of public contracts, whenever it is feasible and can be based on sound industrial capabilities. The European Space programmes should meet Union’s expectations and Policies objectives while enhancing European industry international competitiveness, growth and sustainability (according to Europe2020 objectives).

Based on such principles, ESA and Union procurement policies, although different by nature, should at least be compatible and serve common purposes.

In the name of the European Space industry community, Eurospace is looking forward to being involved and contributing to the upcoming reflections in these matters.

EUROSPACE PP INDUSTRIAL POLICY 2011.pdf

More information EUROSPACE
Eurospace – 15, Avenue de Ségur – 75007 Paris – France
Tel. :+33 1 44 42 00 70 – Fax :+33 1 44 42 00 79

EARSC is the European voice for the European geoinformation service industry.

The European Association of Remote Sensing Companies is a non-profit-making organisation created in 1989. It is committed to increase the use of Earth Observation and to foster geo-information services worldwide, increasing the profile of its Members.

EARSC´s mission is to foster development of European geo-information service industry.

Our vision is a sustainable market for geo-information services, using remote sensing data, which is openly accessible to all members. To achieve this we will focus on:
a Customer awareness and acceptance of Earth observation and remote sensing
b Improving Market access for our members

EARSC booklet_2011web.pdf

Swedish Parliament has today decided to transfer the operations currently conducted by the Metria division of Lantmäteriet to the wholly State-owned company Metria AB on 1 May 2011.

Metria performs consultancy work in the field of geographical information and associated services, for example surveying, data sales, analyses and geographical IT. Exempted from the corporatization is the supply of geographical information to the Defence Authorities, which will remain under Lantmäteriet.

Metria, with some 300 personnel employed in over 35 Swedish towns and cities, has its head office in Gävle, Sweden. The proposed Managing Director of Metria AB after 1 May, Karin Annerwall Parö, has been Divisional Manager of Metria since 15 January 2011.

The decision by Parliament to convert Metria into a limited company is based on the outcome of a survey conducted by the leader of a Government inquiry into the matter, Christina Rogestam. The survey indicated that authorities should not operate on markets with functioning forms of competition. The Parliamentary decision is supported by all political parties.

“At Metria, we recognise that the change involves major positive challenges,” says Karin Annerwall Parö. “It gives us greater opportunities to extend and develop the unique competence that our employees possess in the area of geographical IT. Our customers will find it easier to do business with Metria, while at the same time we will retain a high level of quality in the services we provide.”

All Metria employees will be offered employment at Metria AB. The breadth and depth of Metria’s competence in geographical information is the foundation on which it will be possible to build a successful company. On 24 March 2011, the Government took the formal decision that allowed the State to purchase the company and to appoint a Board of Directors.

On 1 May 2011, operations will be transferred from Lantmäteriet’ Metria division to Metria AB.

For further information, please contact Karin Annerwall Parö, Metria’s Divisional Manager, on +46 (0)73-412 66 62 or at karin.annerwall.paro@lm.se

Metria offers services in the field of geographical IT. The focus of Metria’s operations has for many years been on helping customers to collect, process and use geographical information. Metria employs some 300 personnel in 35 towns and cities in Sweden, and has annual sales of SEK 500 million. The largest customers are for the most part in the public sector, banking and insurance, forestry and energy, and telecommunications. See www.metria.se.

(Guildford, 10th February 2011) Remote sensing solutions provider DMCii has signed an exclusive agreement with the Nigerian Space Agency (NASRDA) to distribute imagery from the two new earth observation satellites NigeriaSat-2 & NigeriaSat-X that are awaiting launch.

The two satellites introduce high quality 2.5m Pan and 5m multispectral (4 band) imagery to DMCii’s product range with strip, wide area and stereo pair options available. These very high resolution imagery products will prove ideal for use by professionals in mapping and cartography, business intelligence, urban/transport planning, land cover mapping, forestry and demanding agriculture applications.

The two new satellites will also provide wide area 22m and 32m multispectral data continuity for applications that are already using DMCii’s imagery products throughout the world.

DMCii will distribute the imagery products to all customers outside Africa and customers in Africa will be managed by NASRDA.

About DMC International Imaging Ltd

DMC International Imaging Ltd (DMCii) is a UK based supplier of remote sensing data products and services for international Earth Observation (EO) markets. DMCii supplies programmed and archived optical satellite imagery provided by the multi-satellite Disaster Monitoring Constellation. DMCii’s data is now used in a wide variety of commercial and government applications including agriculture, forestry and environmental mapping.

In partnership with the former British National Space Centre (now UK Space Agency) and the other Disaster Monitoring Constellation member nations (Algeria, China, Nigeria, Turkey and Spain), DMCii works with the International Charter ‘Space and Major Disasters’ to provide free satellite imagery for humanitarian use in the event of major international disasters such as tsunamis, hurricanes, fires and flooding.

DMCii was formed in October 2004 and is a subsidiary of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), the world leader in small satellite technology. SSTL designed and built the Disaster Monitoring Constellation with the support of the then British National Space Centre and in conjunction with the other Disaster Monitoring Constellation member nations listed above.

For more information, please see www.dmcii.com.

Notes to editor:
This press release can be downloaded from http://fwd4.me/vKM
High-resolution JPEG images are available on request
Press contacts:
Robin Wolstenholme, bcm public relations, www.bcmpublicrelations.com
Tel: +44 (0)1306 882288
Email: r.wolstenholme@bcmpublicrelations.com
Paul Stephens, Sales & Marketing Director, DMC International Imaging Ltd.
Tel: +44 (0)1483 804299
Email: p.stephens@dmcii.com