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2018 has been another year of strong progress for the Association. In 2018 we have grown from 5 persons to 8 and are now looking for 2 more to join us. I emphasise that this has not been our goal – it is absolutely not our goal to grow; our goal is to do more for our members. To do this we pursue a mixed business model relying about 20% on membership fees and 80% on projects.

All the projects are aimed at supporting companies in the sector – our membership – and we shall not take on work which does not reflect this aim.
The volume of project work is increasing but so is our membership and for the moment we maintain this 20:80 ratio business model. It is very important that we maintain our membership-based model and this is a fundamental philosophy of EARSC now and in the future. It also means that we shall not compete with our members for work. The activity of an Association is quite distinct from those of the companies active in the sector. We aim to provide excellence to those companies providing geospatial services which form the Association and so far, I consider that we have been successful in that goal.

We are very excited about what we can do as a result of two new projects. But before talking about them, I want to turn to 2 other EARSC existing projects. The first is our biennial industry survey which was launched for the 4th time just before the end of last year. It is extremely important that we are able to gather statistics on the industry. The figures are much awaited by the policy makers who decide the activities and budgets for our sector. This year will be studied for the impact of the Copernicus programme on the sector. We see many new companies being formed and now we need to put some numbers behind the growth. If you are employed by a company then please take the few minutes it will take to complete at the least first part of the survey.
Then I am pleased to announce that eoMALL has gone live. The beta version was released a few days ago. This is another important project to create a marketplace for the EO services industry. Along with eoPages, eoMALL will be promoted as THE place to go to find the service to meet your needs. Please visit the site; provide us with some feedback and watch as more services and features are introduced through 2019.
Then, in the last 3 weeks of 2018, we have had news of 2 highly important wins of EC H2020 grants. One we are leading and in the second one, we are a leading partner in the team.

Both are now subject to grant negotiation so I shall not say more about them for now. One comes under the umbrella of Innovation Support where the EC are encouraging cross-sectorial innovation. We believe that we have a very exciting and innovative concept that should help over 100 companies directly to make better use of EO and especially Copernicus data.

The second will increase our market outreach activity where we look to promote the sector and its capabilities. Both are quite large and should enable us to make a strong impact.

Overall, I refer to these 2 activities as fulfilling a theme of “from research to business” with the goal to help as many of the pilots as possible to become business ventures. The two projects are very complementary and should re-enforce each other as well as our major initiative called eoMALL (which will go live very shortly). Both projects should start in the 2nd quarter and you will hear more about them in due course.

Chetan Pradhan, Chairman of the Board of EARSC, spoke to SciTech Europa about the Earth Observation industry in Europe today and how it is developing.

The European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC) is the European organisation which – on a non-profit basis – promotes the use of Earth Observation (EO) technology and especially the companies in Europe which offer EO-related products and services. It is the industry body which represents the EO geo-information services sector in Europe, and its members cover the full EO services value chain including commercial operators of EO satellites, resellers of data, value-adding companies, geospatial information suppliers, consultancies and software providers.

The Association maintains close links with key European Institutions, including the European Commission, European Parliament, European Environment Agency and other agencies, as well as global bodies such as GEO (Group on Earth Observations), providing a unified voice on wider European and global issues of importance to the industrial sector.

EARSC also maintains connections with a number of other umbrella organisations at European and National levels. It works with Eurogi (as an observer member), Eurisy, Eurospace, NEREUS in Brussels, Belgium, and with National Associations where they exist.

SciTech Europa Quarterly spoke to Chetan Pradhan, Chairman of EARSC’s board of directors, about the EO industry in Europe today and how it is developing.

What do you feel have been the biggest developments in the EO sector in Europe in recent years?

There are many, but I would particularly highlight three things here:
• The EU Copernicus programme
• The impact of advances in the information technology sector
• The rise of commercial Earth Observation initiatives.

Regarding Copernicus, there is no denying the substantial impact this programme has had on the EO sector in Europe, with the investment of €4.3bn of EU funding in the period 2014-2020, the successful deployment of a constellation of operational Sentinel satellites, the free and open data policy, and the comprehensive programme of downstream services. These have really enabled the EO services sector to step up a gear to develop and deliver a range of new products and services to public and private sector customers both within Europe and outside of it.

Advances in Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) have also had a huge impact. Whereas in the past it took days or weeks to access the latest Earth Observation data, today it is available in hours or minutes thanks to high bandwidth links and cloud computing, which also enable the data to be processed into information products and delivered to end-users and customers equally fast.

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are enabling our sector to derive ever-more sophisticated insights and analytics from EO data, and to combine it with novel data feeds from in-situ sensors and even unstructured data sources such as social media feeds, news channels, mobile devices and crowdsourcing. The range of applications and services that could be developed using this rich mix of information sources is very exciting indeed and we are watching this closely.

Thirdly, we are seeing increasing interest in commercial Earth Observation initiatives around the world, including here in Europe. Reduced build and launch costs and using ‘off the shelf’ commercial technologies such as those from digital cameras and mobile phones to reduce the size and weight of the satellites are leading to commercial interest in building and launching constellations of small, inexpensive satellites that can provide higher temporal and spatial coverage than the large institutional satellites. These satellites are enabling access to novel data types such as small radar constellations, video from space, or small hyperspectral missions.

Of course, underpinning all this excitement in Europe is the fact that our sector continues to rely upon the solid foundation that has been built up over many years through Earth Observation programmes at the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Meteorological Satellite Agency (EUMETSAT), and the Horizon 2020 Space Programme and its precursor FP6/FP7 programmes. Without these, we would not have been well positioned to take advantage of the developments outlined above.

How important is maintaining links with key European Institutions (the European Commission, ESA, Eumetsat, etc.)? How do you ensure that relevant policy information is communicated to industry?

Of course, this is vitally important. The Earth Observation services sector in Europe would not be where it is today without the institutional programmes – Europe has invested significantly in the development of the sector, notably through the EC-ESA Copernicus programme, the ESA ‘Earth Explorer’ science programme, the Eumetsat meteorological satellite programme, and the Horizon 2020 Space programme. All of these programmes have helped industry develop technologies and capabilities, both upstream and downstream, that have led to spin-off commercial success for the sector, in Europe and in export markets. In addition to being a key sponsor, the public sector is also the largest customer for Earth Observation-derived services in Europe – we estimate that 65% of the market for such services is governmental, of which 50% is for government as customer, and 15% is for R&D. The remaining 35% is commercial.

To communicate effectively with our members, EARSC has a range of instruments. Firstly, there is the eoMAG, our quarterly online publication which has over 3,000 subscribers and features news and announcements of significant events and developments in the sector, including from our members and from the European institutions. Secondly, we maintain a comprehensive online portal, in which our members can find all sorts of relevant information, news and announcements – for example, all the latest invitations to tender from ESA, EC, EUMETSAT and others are all routinely listed here for the benefit of our members. Finally, there is our monthly report which provides our members with up-to-date information on events, meetings and EARSC project activities.

In addition, EARSC routinely publishes position papers reacting to key policy information coming from the key European Institutions to make the industry views and perspective known to these institutions. Our feedback and published papers have often been instrumental in bringing about shifts in policy that have made conditions better for industry.

At the national level, how would you characterise the implementation – or lack thereof – of national associations in the field of EO? How do you ensure that the industry is adequately represented when they are absent?

This does tend to vary greatly from country to country. In some countries we see dedicated and thriving national associations, like the British Association of Remote Sensing Companies (BARSC) in the UK, which has over 30 member companies, whilst in other countries there is really no equivalent. For EARSC, the focus is on being inclusive to industry from all across Europe – we currently have 102 members, spread across 23 European countries and Canada (which we include because Canada also participates in ESA EO programmes).

We therefore do not see the absence of remote sensing national associations as a particular hindrance – we serve European remote sensing industry best by representing the industry at European level, working to find consensus amongst our members even in cases where national priorities and ambitions may be different. The European institutions also find it extremely efficient to be able to engage with a single association that represents the interests of the European remote sensing and Earth Observation industry, rather than having to engage with 27 or 28 individual national trade associations.

EARSC is calling for stronger partnership between the Earth Observation industry and public sector institutions in Europe to build a better future together. What will this entail?

The key word here is ‘partnership’! There is already a very strong relationship between the EO industry and the public sector in Europe, of course, but we would like to build further upon this in order to ensure that the benefits of Europe’s substantial investment in Copernicus are realised in Europe. We see four key elements to this:

• Firstly, we need clarity of the roles of the public and private sectors so as to enable industry to invest in developing new services with confidence that the same service won’t be offered for free by a public institution in future.
• Secondly, we would like industry views to be factored in at an early stage in policy and programmatic decisions. This will help to ensure that new systems and services are conceived in a way that maximises the future commercialisation potential.
• Thirdly, we encourage the public sector to move away from investing in infrastructure and move increasingly towards procuring services from industry, especially in areas where there is a proven commercial capability and market.
• Finally, we call upon the public sector to provide adequate support to the transition of the latest cutting edge R&D from European institutions in order to develop successful demonstrations and to then go on to commercial exploitation.

Accessing markets outside the EU is crucial for jobs and growth within the sector. How difficult is this, and how is EARSC helping European industry to access these markets?

It is certainly difficult for European companies to do this. In 2016, the sector revenue in Europe was over €1.2bn, giving work to 7,700 highly skilled employees. However, the sector is dominated by SMEs, with over 95% of the companies having fewer than 50 persons and over 60% having fewer than 10 persons employed. Small companies do not have the resources and bandwidth to conduct extensive exploration of export markets on their own, and EARSC sees this as a key area in which it can support its members.
We have a dedicated member of the EARSC team assigned to manage our ‘internationalisation’ agenda, which is precisely about helping our members to access markets outside of Europe.

We have organised several trade missions for EARSC members to engage with potential customers and other stakeholders in export markets, the most recent ones being to Australia in March 2018, Japan in September 2017, and Chile in September 2017. We have entered into bilateral agreements to foster co-operation and facilitate dialogue, notably with Japan Space Systems, with the EuroChile business foundation, and with the African Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment.

Moving forwards, what will EARSC’s main priorities be?

We will certainly continue to develop on all the fronts I have already mentioned – communications, partnerships, internationalisation, and creating opportunities for our sector to grow and flourish. One exciting development I have not mentioned yet is the eoMALL, which is EARSC’s initiative to create an online marketplace for European EO services – we are in the advanced stages of developing this and hope to have a first version going live before the end of 2018.

We will also continue to focus on growth of membership of the association, to make ourselves even more representative of the overall sector in Europe; and to focus on continued engagement with the European institutions so as to bring about relevant changes in policy to ensure the conditions for private sector industry in European remote sensing and EO programmes are suited to delivering continued economic growth and associated benefits back to Europe.

All of these activities need to be adequately resourced and I can envisage the secretariat of EARSC continuing to grow in the coming years to increase its capacity to take on a steadily increasing workload for the benefit of the EO and remote sensing services sector in Europe.

Source

Copernicus – a game-changer in academia-business relationships

The Space sector in Europe has been boosted by the Copernicus programme, bringing ample socio-economic and environmental benefits to public sector, businesses and citizens. To foster a globally competitive European space sector and ensure European autonomy in accessing and using space in a safe and secure environment, it is necessary to stimulate the integration of space into European economy and society.

Authors: Stefan Lang, Department of Geoinformatics – Z_GIS & Peter Zeil, Spatial Services GmbH

The unique investment of the European Member States into the development and operation of Copernicus provides the data resources for innovative solutions to crucial challenges faced by our societies. For innovation to be realized, a constant stream of inventions (from research) needs to be validated as robust and relevant through the adoption by diverse user communities. For the maximisation of the impact of Copernicus, sustainable user uptake activities are required, strongly supported by the Copernicus Academy and Copernicus Relays networks.

The DT-SPACE-07-BIZ-2018 funded action CopHub.AC (www.cophub-ac.eu) creates a knowledge and innovation hub, demonstrating several technical and procedural pillars (Gateway, Research Briefs, Knowledge Landscape, CitizenApp, etc.) to foster and link ongoing R&D activities in Copernicus-relevant academic fields, and to sustain the innovation process from academia to businesses on the highest possible scientific and technical level. Our clear commitment is a full thematic and geographic coverage for a Europe-wide boost in demand-driven uptake of space technology and geospatial information at its most effective rate. Our vision is to establish a Copernicus hub to consolidate and sustain the Copernicus Academy as a knowledge and innovation network. In order to strengthen the R&D dimension, the expertise and tools available at the network level need to be used at the service of research and innovation with the aim to boost their innovation potential.. To this end, twelve partners from academia (PLUS, UMA, KU Leuven, KU MRI., UNIBAS, CUT), businesses (SpaSe, Evenflow, rasdaman) and associations (EARSC, GISIG, Climate-KIC), ensure a highly complementary expertise across application domains and sectors.

Copernicus Academy – an emerging network

When its vision was laid out in 2012, the founders of the (then) GMES Academy could hardly foresee its impact a few years later. With some 150 members from the public and private sector, including from outside Europe, the Copernicus Academy has been growing into an invaluable pool of experts, application know-how, emerging from pooling the various types of expertise, trans-national, trans-domain, trans-sectoral.

The envisaged space hub will grow and support the Academy by dedicated activities such as mapping and monitoring activities, and liaising between its members in regard to initiatives of interest for the network, such as events and educational opportunities (summer schools, post-graduate scholarships, etc.). In particular we aim at:

- Maintaining. sharing, and developing novel communication tools to ensure update about latest events, info sessions, Copernicus lectures, new members, new training tools availability, best practices, academic curricula, funding opportunities;

- Interacting with the Copernicus Entrusted Entities, Copernicus partners and local actors, as tomorrow’s entrepreneurs are today’s students; distributing publications and reference lectures for training on Copernicus data and information use, under a public license; strengthening the synergies and cooperation by sharing knowledge building, best practices and Copernicus-related research and applications; helping developed innovations to hit the market as quickly as possible; establishing dedicated vocational training and thesis scholarships in cooperative arrangements between universities and/or public institutions supporting career training and private business actors, in close collaboration with the educational sector-skills alliance activities;

- Building up a knowledge culture and a strategic think-thank around the benefits of the Copernicus programme and its potential for both public services needs and societal challenges; Taking advantage of the synergic actions identified and communicated by the Copernicus Support Office and by the members themselves in order to established best practices such as clustering EU funding for tailored interdisciplinary education programmes between different faculties (engineering, geography and economics) and/or more than one university with the inherent cooperation and participation of industry, associations, incubators, financial institutions and public actors; inter-university exchanges of human resources;

- Developing a synergic relation with the Copernicus Relays Network and other key networks through the coordination of the Commission, in particular with the ESA Education Office, the ESA Space Solutions, the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) and other relevant actors; thereby contributing to the development of the ecosystem that the Commission is building around Copernicus and space data overall with a focus on the match with the market needs and the economic dimension (spin-offs development, etc.).

The Copernicus Academy hub will stimulate the uptake and evolution of information services derived from space and in-situ data. At the forefront of invention is solid research funnelled by relevant academic programs. This is the crossroad where long-term skills development efforts and orientation during primary and secondary education meet. Ascertaining the best possible synergy, the activities will be embedded in larger educational and strategic programmes and aligned with the Erasmus+ skills development project EO4GEO (www.eo4geo.eu, “empowering space data users”) for the space-geo-information sector. Also, synergies are drawn with the new Erasmus+ Joint European Degree Copernicus Master in Digital Earth (https://cde.sbg.ac.at/).

Copernicus has a global dimension and supports the international cooperation strategy of the European Union. Meanwhile, a growing number of Academy partners represent Latin-American and Africa (see figure 1). Arrangements for cooperation are concluded with countries outside of Europe to enlarge the use and improvement of Copernicus data and information. The cooperation programme GMES & Africa between the African Union (AU) and the European Union has the objective to establish satellite-based information services for the African continent provided by African institutions – strongly supported by Copernicus. CopHub.AC will also prepare the ground for international cooperation in support of the European space sector in the global context, extending the capacity beyond European borders and, by doing so, also advancing the Global Earth Observation Systems of Systems (GEOSS).


Figure 1: Current state of Copernicus Academy members (focus on Europe, light blue symbols represents specific EO expertise, light green indicates specific GI expertise, red shows an educational focus, white represents sites with no specific area of expertise indicated so far)

Measures to sustain the Academy within the Copernicus ecosystem

The Copernicus Academy ecosystem has been growing steadily over the last few years. To make its impact for the evolution of the Copernicus services and their uptake felt, the distributed research capacities needs to be well orchestrated and documented. CopHub.AC intends to demonstrate new technical and procedural measures to increase this impact (see figure 2). The actors in the Copernicus ecosystem can best perform if they recognize the shared value at the intersection of individual or institutional and network-wide performance. The members’ wealth of capacities and knowledge need to be exploited (a) to facilitate the search for capacity and expertise by location/thematic area/key types of activities, (b) to recognize/explore synergies, and © to open the Academy for the general public – civil society, authorities, industry and research organisations which are not members of the Academy. The CopHub.AC’s Gateway – the searchable inventory of the Academy – facilitates sharing knowledge, education experiences, and best practices between the members. The CopHub.AC’s Research Briefs (2.0) provide the highlights of Copernicus-related research outputs including research context (research centre, location), application field, methodology used, key results and the innovative impact to enable the fast-track to innovation. Links will be established to the emerging EO/GI Body of Knowledge (as an development within EO4GEO) with respect to concepts and methods being used and the evolving EARSC thematic taxonomy in terms of the applications and (potential) users / usages. The thematic working groups within the hub have a moderating function, to monitor thematic fields and to advise. We also intend working groups on transversal topics (tertiary education material, primary and secondary education material) and new emerging themes (e.g. health, energy).

To illustrate the distributed capacities within the Academy, CopHub.AC develops a Knowledge Landscape for navigation and effective access to the wealth of inventive research undertaken by the members. Built on the contribution through the gateway and research briefs, not only the collaboration within the ecosystem is animated and strengthened, but – adhering to the very function of an ‘academy’ – the interactive landscape also opens the door for non-scientists to be informed about the benefits of space-derived information. The CopHub4Citizen App makes the knowledge landscape and the research capacitites accessible for the interested public. We intend to ‘translate’ the research briefs into youth- or publicly understandable terms.


Figure 2: Measures taken by CopHub.AC to strengthen and sustain the Copernicus Academy

Finally, the two networks within the Copernicus ecosystem, the Academy and the Relays network, need to be well integrated and their activities synchronized. Therefore, two hub projects, CopHub.AC and its partner project CoRDiNet, have established close communication channels and coordinate their activities via a joint action plan. The measures described above will strengthen start-up/spin-off developments by supporting initiatives such as incubators and accelerators programmes by ESA and the Commission. Together with the Relays network, SMEs and young entrepreneurs will be animated, facilitated and supported to take part in competitions, such as the Copernicus Masters.
20+ years after the Baveno Manifesto (1998), Copernicus – Europe’s eyes on Earth – provides operational information services developed and constantly evolved by the effort of European researchers. This huge investment in terms of resources and brains deserves to be made known – not only to the research community but equally though to society at large. The need for education and skills development of the young generation for uptake of space data and their use to the benefit of the society, to make the space sector the strategically important tool, as foreseen by the Juncker Plan, including a deeper and fairer internal market with a strengthened industrial base for jobs, growth and investment in space and all industries building on satellite services.

Queensland State shows how images from space can support and improve decision-making for Governments and agencies. 30 January 2019 – New Space pioneer Earth-i today announced that it has completed the third annual update of the satellite map of the state of Queensland.
The map covers the whole of Queensland’s 1.9 million km2 and was created by Earth-i for the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy (DNRME). The first map was produced in 2016 with Earth-i reappointed for updates in both 2017 and 2018.

Around 6,000 very high-resolution images from the DMC3 Constellation were used for the 2018 update of the map with multiple re-visits to tropical areas with heavy cloud cover.

The images have a pixel size of 80cm (one pixel equates to 80cm on the ground) so that details such as individual trees can be easily seen.

All three maps are available on an online portal – ‘The Queensland Globe’ where images can be viewed and printed.

These images are used by a variety of Government departments, local agencies and natural resource management groups to manage and monitor Queensland’s resources and improve policy development, investment and planning decisions. The map also helps to monitor environmental changes, and helps with the planning of long-term land development strategies.

Earth-i faced strong competition to lead this prestigious project which has set the standard for Governments across the world who are looking to use images of Earth taken from space to improve their decision-making.

Steve Jacoby, Executive Director of Land and Spatial Information at the Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, said “Earth-i is an innovative company that combines quality images and analysis with excellent service. The Queensland Globe is very well used and helping to improve the decision making of a wide variety of organisations.”

Paul Majmader, Commercial Director of Earth-i, said “Winning this contract for the third consecutive time is a tribute to our entire team. The DNRME in Queensland is showing Governments around the world how important regularly updated, high resolution data is in making informed policy decisions.”

As qualified suppliers to other states in Australia, Earth-i is helping Australia retain its position as a leader in the development of geospatial data infrastructure which is driving both economic development and good environmental management.

About Earth-i

Earth-i currently provides satellite imagery, data analysis and insights services from a range of Earth Observation (EO) satellites, including the DMC3, SuperView, KOMPSAT and Planet constellations of satellites. Earth-i launched its own satellite service demonstrator satellite, VividX2, in January 2018.

The company is pioneering the application of machine learning and AI solutions to Earth Observation data to provide deeper insights in support of critical business decisions and policy formulation. Earth-i has a wide range of clients globally including National and Local Governments and a multitude of specialist geospatial companies and other commercial organisations.

The upcoming launch of its own satellite constellation, Vivid-i, is a natural evolution of Earth-i’s existing and well-regarded image and EO analytics business. The Vivid-i Constellation will enable Earth-i to meet the rapidly growing demand for high-resolution EO data, analytics and insights, whilst delivering pioneering high-frame rates, ultra-high-definition colour video, and very high frequency revisits.

Earth-i is headquartered in Surrey, UK, on Europe’s largest academic space campus near to many other UK space-related companies including Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL).

Website: www.earthi.space
Twitter: @Earthi_
Linkedin: Earth-i Company page

View the first full-colour datasets from VividX2: https://youtu.be/OBxJSroyTcI

As recently as in 2013, it was estimated that at the end of last year, the value of the global market of cloud will reach the level of 32.5 billion dollars. Meanwhile, it is almost 5 times higher.

Almost every fourth company in the European Union uses the cloud

The latest Eurostat research shows that in the last 4 years the use of cloud computing among large companies in the European Union has increased by over 20%. Currently, 26% of enterprises use cloud computing. It is worth noting that statistically the larger the company, the more often it uses cloud computing.

This is confirmed by numbers – the largest percentage of cloud use (56%) is found among the largest companies that theoretically have their own resources, and yet more often decide to outsource. The public administration also increasingly places on the cloud.

‘A simple profit and loss account wins. Cloud will always be a cheaper solution than maintaining infrastructure on its own, in addition, the administration collides today with the problem of a shortage of specialists who prefer to work in enterprises. It is also worth paying attention to the trend of investing in the cloud of the foreign public sector’ – notes Urszula Mielcarz from CloudFerro, a company that, on behalf of the European Space Agency, stores data from the Copernicus satellites in the cloud.

Geographical differences

According to research, there are significant differences between individual countries in the use of cloud computing in the EU. While in Poland the percentage of companies using the cloud in 2018 reached only 11.5%, in Finland, Sweden and Denmark – 65.3%, 57.2% and 55.6% respectively.

In the ranking of countries most willing to use cloud solutions, Poland is on the third place from the end, before Bulgaria and Romania. No wonder – in the years 2014-2016, the percentage of Polish companies using the cloud grew by 1% per annum. For comparison, e.g in Finland, annual increases in the same period ranged from 51 to 57%.

‘The use of cloud computing strongly correlates with the digital advancement of individual European Union countries. In countries that have been investing in fiber-optic links and digital competence of citizens for years, the use of cloud computing is the most common’ – comments Eurostat data Urszula Mielcarz from CloudFerro.

It gets better and better for the cloud market

It turns out that the predictions about the cloud computing market from just a decade do not only meet, but were too timid. In 2010, the American research company Pew Research Center conducted a survey among current and potential cloud users, asking them about the forecasts related to its use in the future. As many as 71% of respondents indicated the answer “in 2020, the norm will be functioning in the cloud, and the work will be done mainly with the use of applications in cyberspace, available through network devices”. It is safe to say that they had a good feeling.

It is worth adding, however, that the forecasts for the value of the cloud computing market from the beginning of this decade were heavily underestimated. At the beginning of 2013, the analytical firm IDC (International Data Corporation) estimated that the cloud market at the end of 2013 will reach the value of 8.6 billion dollars, and for the next 5 years will increase by a cumulative rate of 24.8%. It is easy to calculate that according to this forecast, the value of the cloud market in 2018 was to amount to 32.5 billion dollars. Meanwhile, in reality it was … more than 5 times more.

Steady increase

Goldman Sachs research indicates that the company’s spending on the cloud, which currently accounts for 8% of IT budgets, will rise to 15% by 2021. So the increase will be very significant. The analyst Dave Bartoletti from Forrester also talks about the increased dynamics of the global cloud computing market – More and more commonly the implementation of cloud computing will drive digital transformation.

The global market for data processing in the cloud has a chance to exceed USD 200 billion in 2019. It would be a 20% increase compared to the previous year.

This is the same as the growth in EU companies, but within four years. In addition, Gartner predicts that in 2025 as many as 80% of enterprises will already be operating in the cloud.

According to Gartner’s analysts, in 2021 the Polish cloud computing market could approach $ 300 million. However, as the history of this type of analysis shows, after years it may turn out that they were too cautious, and the IT market driven by the development of technology can surpass even the best forecasts.

For centuries, people have been trying to “read” the sky and make attempts to describe what the universe looks like. The information from the stars was used to measure time or navigation. However, the observation of the blue sphere before the technological revolution was very limited. For example, Nicolaus Copernicus, who in one of the sketches of the famous painting by Jan Matejko had a telescope at his feet, did not have this instrument at all, because it did not exist at the time.

Visible on the palm of your hand

We had to wait for real pictures of Earth until the 20th century. It is believed that the most widespread photo in history was the first photograph of the Earth made by Apollo 17 from the Moon, December 12, 1972. This photo, or rather the possibility of taking photographs from a distance allowing for being in the frame of the entire planet was a milestone in the development of Earth monitoring. Earlier photographs, made for example with ballistic missiles, depicted the planet in only fragments. Currently, thanks to satellites placed in the Earth’s orbit, monitoring of our planet creates previously unattainable possibilities, which are more rapidly exploiting, creating innovative services and products based on data from space. The Americans have the greatest traditions in using satellite data.

The disappearing Colorado River

One of the longest rivers of the United States, Colorado, has been so heavily exploited by Americans in recent years, that only its remnants flow into Mexico, and nothing else is reaching the place where it has recently been released. However, the water level in the Lake Mead artificial reservoir, which Colorado falls into, has decreased dramatically. Climate warming also did not help the situation.

US scientists have been successfully using data from satellites to map water resources across the country for several years. As the analyst MacKenzie Friedrichs, who is involved in this project, says – Satellite images processed in the cloud enabled the creation of a national database specifying the degree of hydration throughout the country. Historical and current satellite images as well as meteorological data are used for analyzes, which additionally allows to estimate water consumption in the studied area. Thanks to our research, also taking into account also environmental factors such as water uptake through vegetation and evaporation process, we can obtain information about water consumption in a given time. Estimations obtained after analyzing the available data are used for domestic and regional entities that decide on water management. Thanks to the analysis of satellite images, the management of water resources has become more rational.

This is happening in America, but also in Europe, thanks to the Copernicus Earth observation program, data from satellites are being used more and more widely. The European Space Agency, with the ambition of breaching the Americans to develop services based on space data, has sent a series of Sentinel satellites into orbit over the past five years. They deliver millions of gigabytes of data every day. These include optical images, near infrared, near ultraviolet, and radar observations that go to the repository. Importantly, the Sentinel images are more accurate than those from NASA satellites and cover the entire planet.

Fishing under full control

And how can you earn money on satellite data? For example, you can sell in a friendly, transparent form reports on places where fish catches will be the most fruitful. This patent has been used by Ocean Imaging for several decades, offering, among others, Sea View Fishing tool. The application uses current satellite data and is popular among owners of commercial fishing vessels.

- We sailed against the wind and against the current for quite a long time, until we looked at the current Sea View Fishing map. We changed the course, we got to the north-west of the current and I think that thanks to this, we have shortened the travel time by up to 50% – praising the Jan-Lin application, one of its users. The program informs about, for example, sea height, currents, ground temperature, plankton or salinity. All this information, plus key data on potential catches, accelerate the analysis and identification of the most efficient fishing sites. In addition, they optimize fuel consumption. So in this model, not only the application producer but also its users earn.

Thanks to the development of the Copernicus program, similar tools also appear in Europe. And because the European Union is the world’s fifth largest producer in the field of fisheries, and in some coastal regions, up to half of jobs are associated with fishing, there is a lot to wrest. “Sea” applications can be designed not only for business, but also for those who like recreation on the water. Sailing enthusiasts in the vicinity of the Malta Channel can, for example, use the Kaptan application, which shows current information about the situation at sea and weather forecast, including dynamic changes in the atmosphere and the variability of sea currents. Local fishermen, divers, surfers and tourists can also use the free application.

‘The market for satellite-based services will continue to grow. In addition to economic reasons, encouraging the use of new tools to optimize costs or increase efficiency, issues of sustainable resource use and climate protection are becoming increasingly important. In addition, the quality of satellite images is getting higher, which increases their research value and extends the possibilities of their use’ – says Przemysław Mujta, Technical Sales Manager from CloudFerro, a Polish operator of the CREODIAS platform, which provides access to satellite images from the European Space Agency.

Satellite monitoring of the seas and oceans are also used by organizations dealing with the problem of illegal fishing and smuggling, such as Global Fishing Watch, whose financing partner is the foundation of a well-known actor, the Leonardo DiCarpio Foundation. This organization provides an up-to-date, public map that allows tracking of fishing activities around the world. The platform helps in scientific research, improves the way fisheries are managed and promotes environmental protection.

Current report after a fire

The information provided by Copernicus is successfully used, among others companies and institutions in Italy. Summer 2017 was another year that brought a wave of fires in southern Europe. Local national parks and protected areas were particularly affected. After the fires, local authorities faced a huge challenge – they had to examine and report in a fairly short time in what condition the areas covered by fire were in place. In the case of the Italian National Park Alta Murgia, a thorough examination of significant areas just after the fire was not only difficult, but also fraught with considerable risk. Fortunately, a local satellite services company that has developed the Rheticus Wildfires tool came to help. This application, on a current basis, after each shot of the indicated area by the Sentinel-2 satellite, analyzes the available data and generates preliminary reports. Thanks to this, local authorities had access to information on damage on an ongoing basis, they could easily assess and qualify the area, monitor the vegetation vegetation and even detect potentially illegal activities.

- Rheticus Wildfires has helped us obtain practical information about the areas covered by fire and manage the situation, and take appropriate action related to the fire on a regular basis – says Chiara Mattia from the Alta Murgia National Park. – In the application you can view current maps and preliminary reports, and its greatest advantage is not only the timeliness of information, but above all the accuracy of data and the low cost of obtaining them.

How to plan a city?

A few years ago, the Czech Prague authorities had very good, detailed information about the city, but they had problems with access to information about the wider metropolitan area. That is why they decided to use the Urban Atlas system, which collects data on land cover and use for nearly 700 of the largest European agglomerations. In the study of Prague, historical aerial photographs of the city from 1989 and 1999 were used, which were compared with satellite photos. Analysis of the city’s development over time has shown trends in the development of the agglomeration and helped to create a strategy for the development of the city.

The study showed, among other things, that the most dynamic expansion concerned, contrary to appearances, not the center, but the outer ring of Prague and its suburban municipalities. The analysis additionally helped to understand the rulers a number of issues related to the functioning of the city, such as traffic, the demand for public services, housing development or real estate price fluctuations. And also to solve basic problems, such as the biggest urban problems associated with public transport. Urban Atlas, based on satellite data, has become the basis of an urban development plan for the city and the region. Now there are even more applications for this system – for several months, Urban Atlas also collects data on the height of buildings in agglomerations for selected cities.

The bright future of photos from satellites

According to a report by the American company P & S Research Market, in 2023 the global market for commercial services based on satellite imaging is expected to reach a value of over 5.2 billion dollars. These services can be used mainly in natural resources management, border monitoring, mapping of construction projects and environmental monitoring. Data from satellites will also be used by enterprises, governments, defense, civil engineering, forestry and agriculture, insurance companies and the energy industry.

Two large space programs – Copernicus and Galileo – are currently underway in Europe. Thanks to both projects, European companies have access to data on which entrepreneurs can build their business. According to EU data, already about 10 percent. Companies that are newly established in the EU use the information made available under these programs free of charge – stresses Przemysław Mujta from CloudFerro, who in the first year of cooperation with the European Space Agency gathered on the CREODIAS platform over 10 PB of data from satellites. If this European interest we try on Poland, in which over 300,000 people are created annually companies, you can see how big it can be for Polish companies and startups.

Two large space programs – Copernicus and Galileo – are currently underway in Europe. Thanks to both projects, European companies have access to data on which entrepreneurs can build their business. According to EU data, already about 10% of newly emerging companies in the EU use the information available under these programs free of charge. In the first year of cooperation with the European Space Agency, CloudFerro collected more than 10 PB of satellite data on the CREODIAS platform.

SIAP, the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food – part of the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture (SAGARPA) – has signed a declaration of intent with the UK Space Agency to provide historic, statistical and satellite data to support Rezatec’s development of a crop yield optimisation tool for Mexican farmers and other supply chain stakeholders.

The Mexican COMPASS project is funded by the UK Space Agency under its International Partnership Programme (IPP) – a five-year, Pounds 152M initiative which is using the UK space sector’s research and innovation strengths to deliver a sustainable economic or societal benefit to developing economies around the world. The project is designed to utilise sophisticated geospatial data and Artificial Intelligence to help smallholder farmers growing sugar cane and wheat in Mexico to improve their crop yields.

The inclusion of SIAP in the project will enable the provision of new and valuable information relating to wheat and sugarcane background studies in Mexico, historical data, surveys, statistical information and access to future satellite data, all of which will help improve the project outputs for the farmers.

As part of IPP, Rezatec unveiled the latest version of its free mobile app, ‘COMPASS V1.6’, at the Global Agri Food Tech Forum in Puebla, Mexico in October 2018. The event, the largest of its kind in South America, was attended by 40,000 agricultural stakeholders – ranging from smallholder farmers to senior figures within the global agricultural supply-chain, as well as the Mexican President, Enrique Pena Niento.

The app, developed by Rezatec, will provide decision-support tools to help growers, including smallholders, improve their technical, environmental and financial performance, delivered via a smartphone interface so that it is accessible even in areas with no internet connectivity. The technology developed by the project will use Earth observation satellite data, along with field data captured by farmers, to help identify factors causing the yield gap between crop potential and actual field performance.

SIAP stated that they are delighted to be collaborating with Rezatec and the UK Space Agency on the COMPASS project to improve agricultural outcomes for Mexican farmers and other stakeholders in the supply chain.

Chris Castelli, Director of Programmes of the UK Space Agency said, “Collaboration is at the core of our International Partnership Programme. By working together, we are providing the tools necessary to stabilise workers’ incomes and support the economic development of their communities”.

Dr Andrew Carrel, Chief Technology Officer at Rezatec commented, “The inclusion of the SIAP in the project is going to be instrumental in the increasing value that we can provide the farmers to help optimise their crop yields and in turn create a positive impact on economic livelihoods”.

Version 1.6 of the app offers new functionality for wheat farmers advising them of the optimum sowing period and an irrigation schedule for a maximising yield. Following the launch, additional farmers have now signed up to the project with the help of AOASS, Mexico’s largest wheat farmers association, which has shown huge interest in supporting the farming community in using the application for the upcoming wheat season during December 2018.

The next stage of the project is to collaborate with other stakeholders in the supply chain, including crop insurers, wheat processors and irrigation bodies. For more information visit here.

MicroDragon, a made-in-Vietnam Earth observation satellite, was launched into space at 9:50 am in Japan on January 18 (local time).
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) carried out the launch of MicroDragon along with six Japanese satellites using an Epsilon-4 rocket from the Uchinoura Space Centre in Kagoshima Prefecture, some 1,000 km away from Tokyo.

The Epsilon-4 rocket of the Uchinoura Space Centre in Kagoshima prefecture, which carried MicroDragon into space, before the launch (Photo: VNA)

The Vietnamese satellite was previously scheduled to enter space on January 17 but had to wait a day later due to unfavourable weather.

MicroDragon will be separated from the rocket after about an hour and send back first signals in one or two days. The satellite’s operation is expected to become stable after one to three months in space.

The satellite was developed by 36 Vietnamese engineers from the Vietnam National Space Centre (VNSC), who were sent to study space technology in Japan’s top five universities, namely the University of Tokyo, Keio University, Hokkaido University, Tohoku University and Kyushu Institute of Technology. The group began manufacturing the satellite in 2013 and successfully completed and tested it in 2017.

MicroDragon, measuring 50×50×50 cm and weighing 50 kilograms, is designed to monitor the quality of water in coastal areas, locate fishery resources, and observe changes in the ocean to assist the nation’s aquaculture. Also, it will help exchange data with the Microsatellite community in the world to enhance capacity in response to climate change and natural disasters.

Previously, VNSC engineers successfully made a satellite named PicoDragon (10×10×11.35 cm, 1 kg), which was launched into orbit in 2013.

As scheduled, after MicroDragon, Vietnam will make LOTUSat-1 and LOTUSat-2 satellites with advanced radar technology, each weighing 600kg and measuring 1.5×1.5×3 m with a 5-year lifetime in orbit.

Source

China launched two satellites for multispectral imaging on a Long March-11 rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 1:42 pm on Monday.

A Long March-11 rocket carrying two satellites for multispectral imaging and two test satellites blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Cente21, 2019. (Xinhua/Wang Jiangbo)

The satellites have successfully entered their preset orbit, according to the center.

The two satellites, part of the Jilin-1 satellite family, were independently developed by Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co. Ltd.

Loaded with a multi-spectral imager and an infrared camera, they will form a network with the 10 previously launched Jilin-1 satellites, providing remote sensing data and services for forestry, shipping and resource and environmental monitoring.

The launch also carried two test satellites. Lingque-1A is the first verifying satellite for the Lingque Constellation planned by Beijing ZeroG Technology Co., Ltd. It can take photos of Earth, conduct high-speed data transmission and inter-satellite communication.

Xiaoxiang-1 03 is a technology test satellite developed by Spacety Co., Ltd. based in Changsha, Hunan Province. It will be used to verify radio communication and small remote sensing experiments.

Source

Africa’s most advanced nanosatellite, developed by South Africa, was successfully launched on Thursday, the South African Department of Science and Technology said.

South African Minister of Science and Technology Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane congratulated the team behind this historic moment, saying the launch of ZACube-2 represents a significant milestone in the nation’s ambition to become a key player in the innovative utilization of space science and technology in responding to government priority areas.

“[Today] marks another historic milestone for South Africa with the successful launch into space of the continent’s most advanced nanosatellite to date, ZACube-2, in the early hours of this morning,” the department said in a statement.

The ZACube-2 took off at 04:07 a.m. with the Russian Soyuz Kanopus mission from Russia’s Vostochny spaceport, the statement said.

The cube-satellite, which left the earth together with small satellites from the United States, Japan, Spain and Germany, is orbited as secondary payload in a launch mission designed for real-time monitoring of natural and manmade disasters and other emergencies, according to the statement.

South African Minister of Science and Technology Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane congratulated the team behind this historic moment, saying the launch of ZACube-2 represents a significant milestone in the nation’s ambition to become a key player in the innovative utilization of space science and technology in responding to government priority areas.

“I am particularly excited that the satellite was developed by some of our youngest and brightest minds under a program representing our diversity, in particular black students and young women,” she said.

The ZACube-2 will provide cutting-edge remote sensing and communication services to South Africa and the region with a mission to monitor the movement of ships along the South African coastline with its automatic identification system (AIS) payload.

The satellite is a technology demonstrator for Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) that will provide critical information for South Africa’s oceans economy, the statement said.

“This satellite will help us monitor our ocean traffic as part of our oceans economy and also monitor veld fires and provide near real-time fire information ensuring a quick response time by disaster management teams,” Kubayi-Ngubane said.

Weighing just 4 kg, the ZACube-2 is South Africa’s second nanosatellite that has been launched into space and three times the size of its predecessor, TshepisoSat.

Pre Launch Report
SA ready to launch most advanced Nanosatellite
South Africa’s most advanced nanosatellite to date, ZACube-2, is scheduled for launch into space on 27 December, with the Russian Soyuz Kanopus mission from Siberia, Russia.

The ZACube-2 will be launched together with small satellites from the United States, Japan, Spain, and Germany and will be orbited as secondary payload in a launch mission designed for real-time monitoring of natural and manmade disasters and other emergencies.

ZACUBE-2, described as the most advanced on the continent, will provide cutting-edge remote sensing and communication services to South Africa and the region.

Weighing just 4kg, the ZACube-2 is South Africa’s second nanosatellite to be launched into space and three times the size of its predecessor, TshepisoSat. It is regarded as the continent’s most advanced cube satellite and is in fact a precursor to the MDASat – a constellation of nine nanosatellites that will be developed to provide cutting-edge very high frequency data exchange communication systems to the maritime industry.

The project, which is funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), supports Operation Phakisa. The DST’s entity, the South African National Space Agency (SANSA), in cooperation with the University of Montpellier, the French Embassy and the Paris Chamber of Commerce, manages the project.

In April this year, the Minister of Science and Technology Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, attended the send-off ceremony and met the team young people who worked on the Zacube-2. At the time, the nanosatellite was scheduled for launch from India, in June 2018. Excess capacity induced by primary and secondary payloads on India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, resulted in a delay and an alternative arrangement was made.

“The launch of ZACube-2 represents a significant milestone in the nation’s ambition to becoming a key player in the innovative utilization of space science and technology in responding to government priority areas,” said Minister Kubayi-Ngubane.

The satellite is a technology demonstrator for Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). It will monitor the movement of ships along the South African coastline with its automatic identification system (AIS) payload. The AIS navigational data will be provided to the South African Government in support of its broader Operation Phakisa initiative to grow our maritime economy. The satellite also carries a camera that will detect veld fires from space.

“This is the most technological advanced nanosat that will provide critical information for our oceans economy (Operation Phakisa). I am particularly excited that the satellite was developed by some of our youngest and brightest minds under a programme representing our diversity, in particular black students and young women.”

The ZACube-2 will be given a new name soon, following a national satellite naming competition launched in April by the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA), an entity of the DST. SAASTA received over 300 entries from Grade 4-12 learners. The results have been finalised and the new name of the nanosatellite will be announced in due course.