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More than 100 professionals from European small- and medium-sized enterprises, research institutes and space industry organisations met in Italy last week at the 4th SineQuaNet Workshop to discuss how the SineQuaNet project can increase the participation of SMEs in the European space business.

“SMEs are very valuable contributors to the supply chain in the space environment,” said Eric Morel de Westgaver, head of ESA’s Procurement Department, in his opening speech to more than 100 workshop participants, which also included representatives from some of Europe’s other space actors such as prime contractors, larger industries and one national embassy.
The workshop was held at ESRIN, ESA’s European Centre for Earth Observation in Frascati, Italy. It is the last of four workshops organised by ESA’s SME unit to define how the SineQuaNet can help SMEs overcome entry barriers to doing business with ESA and participating in Europe’s space programmes.
SMEs are innovative, dynamic and flexible
“Why is the contribution of SMEs so valuable to the work of the Agency?” Morel continued, “SMEs tend to be flexible and dynamic and in addition they have a great capacity for innovation.”
“On several occasions in recent years we have seen SMEs come up with really innovative ideas; ideas that were not coming from large businesses, which in general build more on their experience. Sometimes SMEs have provided breakthrough solutions which have played a very important role in the life of the Agency.”
“SME participation in very large European projects has not yet reached its full potential due to a number of entry barriers; this is one of the key reasons for the SineQuaNet initiative.”
ESA encourage more SME participation to its programmes
An estimated 700,000 SMEs are developing technology in Europe and 2,300,000 use technologies, yet only 1530 SMEs are registered with ESA as potential suppliers. Although the share of SME participation has grown during the past years, up from 2.5% in the period 1993-97, only 6.5% of the Agency’s 2005 budget went to SMEs.
ESA has a variety of initiatives to encourage SMEs to participate in its programmes, support their sustainability and help them to improve their skills and competences. These include the SME Initiative, the Innovation Triangle Initiative, the Technology Transfer Programme, the Incubator, the Earth Observation Market Development Programme and the Satcom Initiative of ESA Telecom.
SineQuaNet helps SMEs to enter the space market
SineQuaNet’s objective is to help SMEs overcome some of the entry barriers mainly through three different actions: improving their skills and competences, improving their competitiveness both within and outside the space market and facilitating the merging of ‘innovative clusters’ of specialised SMEs. To emphasise this third point Morel said, “you are stronger when you are together, SMEs cannot live alone”.
Nora Bougharouat, head of ESA’s SME-unit and instigator of the SineQuaNet project, added: “ESA’s SME Initiative consists of a variety of measures ranging from funding of technology actions to delivery of training. SineQuaNet complements the range of actions already covered under the SME Initiative and is tailored to improve the participation of SMEs in ESA programmes. It is not meant to solve all the problems SMEs may have, but to target some of the important major hurdles.”
“Its main purpose is to improve SMEs’ skills and competences and thus their participation to the space sector, and also to improve their competitiveness in the non-space market to help sustain their business and limit over-dependency on space.”
Bougharouat presented the 2006 SineQuaNet survey which sets out SMEs’ needs and also what is available in terms of expertise and major facilities within the framework of the project. Replies were received from 279 SMEs and based upon the results, SineQuaNet is now in the process of establishing a pool of experts and facilities for the use of SMEs.
Companies and organisations interested in proposing the use of their experts and measurement, test, and calibration facilities to the SineQuaNet network can do so by communicating this on the survey website (Questionnaire B).
Experts and engineers will be hired from the SMEs themselves, from larger groups, research organisations and other networks, as well as from within ESA. SineQuaNet will propose experienced engineers, and when needed adequate facilities, for the limited time needed by SMEs on a reasonable cost basis. SMEs receiving expert help will only have to pay for the support received without investing in or taking on any other responsibilities as would be the case if they had to employ staff.
Trials demonstrate SineQuaNet’s potential
During SineQuaNet’s first year two trials were executed to evaluate how to arrange support and identify the operational problems to be overcome. ESA engineers provided expertise to two companies: HOS-Technik GmbH in Austria and LEIRIOS Technologies in France. Neither company is yet involved in the space business but they do operate in technological fields that are of interest to ESA and relevant to space systems.
HOS-Technik develops speciality polymers for high-temperature composites and additives for the plastic and rubber industry. The space sector would be a very attractive area for expansion and ESA is always looking for new materials which appear promising for space applications. LEIRIOS develops automated software test tools, which could provide interesting solutions for the many software systems in space.
“We did an evaluation of LEIRIOS’ tool for use in space and as they are looking into this market it was very useful for them,” said Lars Wedin from ESA’s Software Engineering and Standardisation Section. Basically their automated test tools were set up and tried out on one of the most important on-board software systems, an attitude and orbit control system software, and the results were then evaluated.
“They basically knew nothing about space before, so it was a hurdle they couldn’t have overcome without our help.” He added that becoming familiar with the requirements of space systems and the inside of the space market were real benefits for the company, confirming the value of the support provided by SineQuaNet.
During the debates and discussion sessions, workshop participants addressed a number of key issues. Of major interest was how to start working with ESA and how to obtain a contract if a company has not previously worked with the Agency.
SMEs can benefit from partnerships
Morel also emphasised the importance of having a strategy when targeting an area and an Invitation to Tender (ITT) because, “by the time an ITT is published on EMITS it is often too late, don’t try to reply as many of your competitors will have been working on it for months.”
Instead, he stressed the importance of following the Intended ITTs (IITTs) presented on EMITS, often published months ahead of ITTs to keep industry posted on ESA’s future intentions for procurement. The IITT system also provides a facility to locate partners. “It is far easier to enter as a partner or in a consortium than as a prime contractor,” Morel stressed.
The different schemes to finance the SineQuaNet support were also addressed, and SME business people expressed what they would see as possible solutions.
The SineQuaNet expert support will be managed through a database of experts and facilities, to be available within this year.
The presentations from this workshop as well as from the previous three are available for download as pdf documents at ESA
Note to editors:
SineQuaNet, Space Intelligence, Engineering and Quality Network, is an expert network providing technical and engineering support to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in ESA Member States and European Cooperating States, who already are operating in or wanting to enter the space sector. It was initiated at the end of 2005 by ESA’s SME Unit and is co-financed by the EC Directorate-General, Research and Technology. The network is expected to be fully operational from the beginning of 2008. SineQuaNet is under the direct coordination of ESA’s SME Unit.
(Source ESA)

FINANCE Space (Finance Innovation Network Addressing New Commercial Enterprise using Space) is a project executed in cooperation with the European Commission.

The goal of the FINANCE Space project is to increase investment activity in innovative space companies and projects across Europe that aim to commercialise space technology to non-space applications and services across Europe so that more space innovations will receive funding through an increasing number of active and potential investments in the space sector.
This will be done by encouraging and facilitating linkages between European space sector funding sources and innovative enterprises through an extensive research, data collection and dissemination project.
FINANCE Space is part of Europe INNOVA, which is an initiative for innovation professionals supported by the European Commission under the 6th Framework Programme. In acting as the focal point for innovation networking in Europe, Europe INNOVA aspires to inform, assist, mobilise and network the key stakeholders in the field of entrepreneurial innovation, including firm managers, policy makers, cluster managers, investors and relevant associations.
(Source ESA)

The world‘s top climate scientists gathered to present a massive report predicting dire consequences of global warming, in particular for poor nations and species diversity.

It warns that the brunt of the problems will fall squarely on to the world‘s poorest inhabitants, who are least to blame for the fossil-fuel pollution that drives global warming.
In February, the IPCC issued a first volume of its latest review with an assessment of the scientific evidence for global warming. It predicted temperatures would probably rise between 1.8 to 4.0 C (3.2-7.2 F) by century‘s end. It is to become one of the main contributions of future GMES services to monitor and help predict and fight the consequences on the global climate system, such as floods and fires caused by raised temperatures.
(Source Terradaily and GMES-Info)

Just as the extraordinary biodiversity found on the Galapagos Islands helped shape our understanding of natural selection, the unique ecosystems of the area have more recently been helping European researchers map the delicate relationship between ocean temperatures and species survival.

The European Space Agency’s Medspiration project is using satellite imagery to provide reliable temperature analysis of biodiversity hotspots around the world in support of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD). The maps are being made available online in near real-time, providing researchers with a unique resource in their efforts to significantly reduce biodiversity loss by 2010.
Medspiration is a European initiative to synthesise data measured from several different satellite systems into a single data set detailing sea surface temperature (SST). Starting from the beginning of the year, it has been integrated into a broader effort by ESA to support UNCBD in Central America. Specifically, researchers are drawing on this one-of-a-kind tool to better understand migration patterns from the Galapagos and Cocos Islands. The technology being used by Medspiration to map the islands located in the Pacific Ocean is able to produce high-resolution images of the Earth’s surface measuring a mere two metres square.
The SST maps are a single component of a series of Earth observation products ESA provides signatories to the UN convention. Other services include Mesoamerican biological corridor change detection maps, coral reef maps, ocean water quality monitoring services, mangrove maps as well as a map of dry lands.
Medspiration has a proven track record of expertise through its association with the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment (GODAE) High-Resolution Sea Surface Temperature Pilot Project (GHRSST-PP), a global initiative to address long-term challenges faced by our oceans. European-funded research and satellite technology have factored prominently in the development of the SST maps thanks to information gathered by the Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) aboard ESA‘s Envisat satellite.
Medspiration has leveraged on the expertise of the different satellite programmes located throughout Europe, including the Italian National Research Council (CNR), France’s Collecte Localisation Satellites (CLS), the Southampton Oceanography Centre, the UK-based VEGA company, Meteo-France‘s Centre for Space Meteorology, the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER), the France-based Actimar firm and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.
(Source EC-Europa)

The space you need to get your business ideas off the ground

ESA Business Incubation and its associated network of business incubators are designed to bridge the gap between an idea and an actual business by helping a technology transfer project get off the ground and assisting its development into a viable business.
“Establish your start-up company based on the new services and
applications emerging from the creative use of space technologies and
systems in non-space sectors.”
The Technology Transfer Programme Office (TTPO) seeks entrepreneurs with innovative ideas for using space technology, applications and services in a non-space environment.
The Technology Transfer Programme Office (TTPO) seeks entrepreneurs with innovative ideas for using space technology, applications and services in a non-space environment.
ESA Business Incubation provides technical expertise and business-development support.
Entrepreneurs: Contact us if you have an innovative idea or business plan based on using a space technology or system in a non-space environment. If you are ready for commercial development, submit your proposal to join the ESA Business Incubation scheme.
Space companies: Contact us to outsource the spin-off initiatives of your employees in an innovative win-win scheme.
Research Centres and Universities: Encourage your staff and students to set up their own companies bringing leading-edge research to the marketplace through ESA Business Incubation.
If you have questions regarding ESA Business Incubation, please contact us on ttp@esa.int.
(Source ESA)

A high-level conference on Global Monitoring for Environment and Security took place on 17th April 2007

Within the framework of the German EU Presidency, a high-level conference on Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) “The Way to the European Earth Observation System GMES – Munich Roadmap” took place on 17th April 2007.
Commission Vice-President Verheugen underlined the strategic role of GMES as the first and most important application in the context of the European Space Policy, which will be disclosed in the next days. In particular he, together with the Federal Minister of Transport Wolfgang Tiefensee, presented GMES as strategic for Europe, as it will ensure independent access to information relating to the environment, climate change and security and deliver efficient and reliable services so that Europe can be treated on equal foot as other world actors when global issues are concerned.
The Munich roadmap, presented at that occasion by the German presidency, sets political milestones for GMES long-term sustainability:
1- By 2008, the first GMES services should be available and the Commission should present proposals for a sustainable programmatic, financial and management framework.
2- By 2012, the Council should adopt the necessary acts based on the Commission’s proposal and ESA should implement the first generation of GMES-dedicated satellites (Sentinels)
For more information at EU
Download the Munich Roadmap:
(Source GMES.Info)

Remote sensing is a critical tool for agriculture, land use worldwide

Over the 35 years that U.S. Landsat Earth-observation satellites have collected images of the planet from space, scientists around the world have put the data to work in a range of applications, from agriculture and land-use planning to ecological forecasting and disaster management.
The program – a shared responsibility of NASA and the Department of the Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) – also has played a role in helping those in the poorest and most resource-challenged nations harness the power of technology, including remote sensing, to make the best, most sustainable use of their natural environment.
Since the 1980s, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided core funding to the International Program at the USGS Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) in South Dakota for projects that use remotely sensed data to address resource management, land-cover change, monitoring and early warning systems in countries around the world. (See related article.)
HELP WITH FAMINE AND FLOODS
USAID established the famine early warning system (FEWS) in 1986 to help prevent famine in sub-Saharan Africa by giving decision makers specific information based on remote sensing about potential famine conditions.
In 2000, the FEWS Network was formed to establish more effective, sustainable, African-led food security and response planning networks to reduce the vulnerability of at-risk groups to famine and floods. The USGS EROS Center, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are among the contributing partners.
In 2003, USAID began funding NASA to establish SERVIR, a Web-based visualization and monitoring system for Central America and Mexico that makes satellite images and geospatial information available to decision makers, students, business communities and the public.
The system has been used for forecasting weather, monitoring fires, determining populations at risk for flooding and landslides, monitoring red tides for fisheries, analyzing climate change and mapping land cover.
“From disaster response to long-term development planning, these Earth observation technologies improve our ability to understand the integrated nature of the work we do around the world, and thus be more effective,” said Carrie Stokes, a geospatial information technology adviser at USAID.
“We can see more holistically how projects in different sectors such as economic growth, agriculture, natural resource management, health and governance can be linked to reinforce each other,” she added. “Building the capacity of people to use geospatial technologies for addressing a host of issues ranging from food security, urban development, biodiversity conservation and climate change is therefore a priority for us.”
The system uses many kinds of remotely sensed data, but Landsat imagery forms the basis for each country’s national map.
USAID also funds the West Africa Land Use and Land Cover Trends Program, an effort by USGS EROS Center scientists to work with partners in 14 countries in that region to map and quantify changes in the landscapes over the past 40 years.
MAPPING CHANGES OVER TIME
Gray Tappan is a geographer with Science Applications International Corp., a contractor for the USGS EROS Center, who works on the land-cover trends program. The effort is a challenge, he said in an April 11 USINFO interview, because of the vast land area involved and the difficulty of piecing together images from different sources.
“We’re looking at four points in time – 1965, 1975, 1985 and 2000,” he said. “It’s like making four separate maps, then we compare them and from that we derive changes. It gives us a visual graphic of the land resources and the way they were 40 years ago, or 20 years ago, and gives us statistics about the areas of forest, wetlands, urban areas and agriculture.”
In West Africa, EROS scientists have been working since 1988 with African partners at the AGRHYMET (for agriculture, hydrology and meteorology) Regional Center in Niamey, Niger, to help them build remote-sensing capacity.
In the maps, Tappan said, “we’re seeing the slow but sure expansion of agricultural lands into forested lands and savannahs, so natural vegetation is losing ground to agriculture. It is a concern – we’re seeing a fairly rapidly changing environment, driven mainly by human activity.”
The next step, he said, “is to provide this very graphic evidence to high-level policymakers in each country and begin a dialogue. We can also use computers to show what those landscapes might look like in 2020 or 2050. That kind of gets their attention.”
In another land-cover-change project in Niger, farmers improved land-clearing and farming practices and adopted better soil and water conservation and agroforestry practices. This led to a regrowth of trees and shrubs that surpasses the number that existed 30 years ago and has a positive impact on tens of thousands of rural households.
This outcome was so amazing that even the Nigeriens were skeptical, Tappan said, until remote sensing imagery “had a huge role in convincing first the Nigeriens and high-level government officials, then the world beyond, that such resources can be restored.”
This is the sort of success story that new technologies like remote sensing can help duplicate in Africa and elsewhere, according to Tappan.
“More than any other satellite out there,” he said, “it’s Landsat that allows us to do this, because Landsat was the first satellite designed to help us study Earth land resources.”
For more information on U.S. policy, see Science and Technology.
More information about the USGS EROS Center International Program is available at the USGS Web site. More information about FEWS NET and SERVIR are available on those organizations’ Web site.
(Source USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.)

U.S. agencies responsible for the Landsat series of Earth observation satellites have agreed that the next-generation Landsat will launch in 2011, and the United States is not the only nation that will benefit from the continued imaging of the planet?s oceans, land surfaces and ice cover.

(Media-Newswire.com) – Washington —
U.S. agencies responsible for the Landsat series of Earth observation satellites have agreed that the next-generation Landsat will launch in 2011, and the United States is not the only nation that will benefit from the continued imaging of the planet?s oceans, land surfaces and ice cover.
Since 1972, a series of Landsat satellites have been orbiting Earth, collecting images from about 700 kilometers above the surface in a near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit. This means the satellite circles the planet in an almost north-south direction as Earth rotates from west to east. NASA and the Department of Interior?s U.S. Geological Survey ( USGS ) share responsibility for the satellites? space and ground segments.
Landsat 5 launched in 1984 and, despite a design life of three to five years, is still operating, but with limited capability. Landsat 7 launched in 1999, and since 2003 has had a sensor problem that limits its capability. Both satellites will run out of fuel in 2010 or 2011; the next satellite, called the Landsat Data Continuity Mission, is expected to launch in 2011. ( See related article. )
The USGS and NASA are very concerned about data continuity and data access, said Ronald Beck, USGS program information specialist for the Land Remote Sensing Program. We´re firmly committed to finding ways to get the data into the hands of the global science community.
SHARING GLOBAL IMAGES
Landsat data are used in various applications, including agriculture and forestry, land use planning, water resource management, coastal zone management, ecological forecasting and disaster management.
Landsat sensors have a moderate spatial resolution. Individual houses are not visible on a Landsat image, but large objects like highways are. This is an important spatial resolution because it is coarse enough for global coverage but detailed enough to characterize human-scale processes such as urban growth.
In 2001, NASA and the USGS agreed to give the international community, through the U.N. Environment Programme ( UNEP ), the global Landsat dataset — satellite images of the entire planet — for 1992 and 2000.
That $20 million worth of Landsat images is allowing environment ministers in Africa, with help from UNEP, NASA, USGS, the University of Maryland and the Earth Satellite Corp., to learn about and analyze environmental changes in their regions over eight years.
Massive sand dunes have been swept around and between rock outcroppings in the barren Libyan Desert. Only a handful of oases lie scattered across this especially arid section of the vast Sahara Desert. ( NASA photo )
Because many African countries do not have Internet access, datasets were given to ministers on high-density hard disks called “databricks” that hold hundreds of satellite images. The same data are freely accessible through Internet portals from NASA, USGS, Michigan State University and the University of Maryland.
The State Department Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs ( OES ) and the U.N. Office of Outer Space Affairs held four workshops in Africa between 2003 and 2005 to review the progress made by African institutions in using the Landsat data to address sustainable development problems, said Fernando Echavarria of the Space and Advanced Technology Office in OES.
?We also worked to make sure we were making headway in getting the Landsat data out to the regional centers of excellence,? Echavarria said. It´s a big continent and there are a lot of problems, but there´s a lot of capacity in Africa on these remote-sensing technologies.
TRACKING HEALTH THREATS
In 2000, Landsat images helped scientists from the World Health Organization ( WHO ), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Naval Medical Research Unit-3 ( NAMRU-3 ) and the Walter Reed Army Institute for Research deal with an outbreak — the first outside Africa — of Rift Valley fever in Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
Rift Valley fever is an acute, fever-causing viral disease that affects people and domestic animals such as cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats, and most commonly is associated with mosquito-borne epidemics during years of unusually heavy rainfall.
To support efforts by international agencies, said Assaf Anyamba, a research scientist at NASA?s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, we had to provide information for them to know where it had rained, where the vegetation had greened up. Those would be potential areas where the most creatures that carry the virus were breeding and spreading the disease.
The scientists used a Landsat image from the period during the outbreak and compared it with an image from before the outbreak.
?We could see a big difference in terms of the vegetation greenness, Anyamba said, and this allowed the teams … to look at the areas along this floodplain of the Arabian-Yemen coast and respond to that outbreak.
He added, In areas where outbreaks occur that are small and in areas of complex topography, Landsat becomes a very useful tool for analyzing the patterns and ecological conditions.
See also U.S. Agencies Moving Forward in Planning Landsat 7 Successor.
Additional information is available on the Future of Land Imaging Web site, sponsored by the Executive Office of the President.
( USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov )
This is the second article in a series on the Landsat Earth observation satellites.
By Cheryl Pellerin
USINFO Staff Writer
(Source USInfo and Media Newswire)

35-year record of Earth observations from space is global scientific asset

By Cheryl Pellerin
USINFO Staff Writer
Washington – After 35 years and 2 million images of the planet’s surface – and two orbiting satellites with failing instruments and scant fuel reserves – the Landsat Earth observation program is getting a new satellite and a new, more stable, mission plan.
The Landsat satellites have produced data that scientists around the world use to monitor crops, assess water quality, map coral reefs, manage coastal zones and transportation systems, plan land use, manage emergencies and disasters, and carry out many other activities.
The newest satellite, scheduled to launch in 2011, is called the Landsat Data Continuity Mission. NASA is responsible for the space segment, which includes designing and building the satellite and the remote-sensing instrument, providing launch services, and testing the satellite once it is in orbit.
The U.S. Department of Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is responsible for the ground segment, which includes a network of ground receiving stations, a satellite operations facility and archive and image-processing facilities. After launch and testing, NASA will transfer satellite operations to USGS.

“NASA and USGS are working very hard,”
said Ronald Beck, USGS program information specialist for the Land Remote Sensing Program, “to make sure there is data continuity.”
REMOTE SENSING
Remote sensing is defined as collecting information about an object without being in physical contact with the object. Satellites are common platforms for remote-sensing observations and have been used for that purpose since the early days of space flight.
Satellite sensors acquire images of the Earth and transmit the data to ground receiving stations worldwide. Once the raw images are processed and analyzed, they can document changing environmental conditions like pollution, global climate change, natural resource distribution, urban growth and more.
The first satellite, Sputnik I, was launched in 1957. For the next 15 years, the number of satellites grew, but most satellite imagery was classified – produced and viewed mainly by government organizations for military purposes.
In 1972, the first civil satellite was launched to collect data about the Earth‘s surface and resources. The Earth Resources Technology Satellite, later renamed Landsat 1, developed by NASA, made satellite imagery available to the public for the first time.
Satellite imagery has revolutionized the study of the natural
environment and global hazards, agriculture, energy use, public health
and international policymaking. The number of satellites has increased
and there is a growing number of commercial satellites and imagery
vendors.
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE
Some experts say the data derived from Landsat’s images were a major force that led to the development of the global-scale concept of earth systems science, which involves studying processes and cycles among the planet’s atmosphere and water, ice, land and life systems, over timescales ranging from minutes to eons.
The Earth-observation program has been experimental from the first Landsat 1 satellite, inspired by NASA’s Apollo missions to the moon and launched in 1972, to the still-orbiting Landsats 5 and 7 – meaning that each satellite was a project conceived individually with little consideration for the future.
That approach changed in 2005, when John Marburger, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, issued a memorandum on the issue.

“It remains the goal of the U.S. government,”
he wrote, “to transition the Landsat program from a series of independently planned missions to a sustained operational program,” funded and managed by the government, an international consortium or a commercial partnership.
FILLING THE DATA GAP
A Landsat satellite’s orbit covers the entire globe every 16 days, but the satellite acquires images of only about one-third that area because of limited processing and storage capacity. It takes one satellite about three months to map the entire globe. With Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 now in orbit, together they cover the globe every eight days.
Landsat 5 launched in 1984 and, despite a design life of three years to five years, continues to operate 23 years later, albeit with limited capability. Landsat 7, with the same design life, launched in 1999; since 2003, a sensor problem has limited its capability. Both satellites will run out of fuel in 2010 or 2011, but remote-sensing experts hope the new satellite will be in orbit before that happens.
“We think we can keep them going until early 2011,” Beck said. “The realistic problem is, what if the sensors fail this year? We’ll have to find a short-term replacement, like buying the data from India, China, France, Japan, other satellite systems, or U.S. commercial firms.”
Today, in the United States, the Future of Operational Land Imaging Working Group is leading a multiagency effort to develop a long-term plan for Landsat.
Members of the working group include the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, NASA, USGS, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and the departments of State, Energy, Agriculture, Transportation and Defense.
A report from the working group is due out in the next few months on how to handle the next generation of Landsat satellites and which agency should be in charge of land imaging for the U.S. government.
Additional information is available on the Future of Land Imaging Web site, sponsored by the Executive Office of the President.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.)
(Source USInfo)

The launch of the German Earth Integrated satellite TerraSAR-X by the Russian-Ukrainian rocket DNEPR-1 has been rescheduled for the end of May.
The launch of the German Earth Integrated satellite TerraSAR-X by
the Russian-Ukrainian rocket DNEPR-1 has been rescheduled for the end
of May. Originally the launch of the Egyptian satellite Egyptsat
planned for the end of March by DNEPR was moved to 17 April. The German
satellite is in excellent condition and waits at Baikonur for its
mission.
TerraSAR-X is the first German Public-Private Partnership (PPP)
satellite – jointly realised by DLR and EADS Astrium. EADS Astrium has
taken on the costs of development, building and employment of the
satellite. The processing as well as the use of TerraSAR-X data for
scientific purposes is run by DLR. Infoterra GmbH, a subsidiary of the
EADS Astrium, is responsible for the commercial marketing.
The satellite will circle Earth at a height of 514 kilometres in a
polar orbit and its Earth Observation data will provide a 1-metre
resolution. TerraSAR-X will work independently of any weather and light
conditions.
Contact
German Aerospace Center
Space Agency
Tel.: +49 228 447-587
Fax: +49 228 447-747

(Source DLR)