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New ENVI module combines automated workflow with advanced, proven algorithms to provide ENVI users with rigorous orthorectification capabilities.

ITT Visual Information Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ITT Corporation (NYSE: ITT), announced the release of the ENVI Orthorectification Module, a new, add-on module to ENVI, a leading software solution for processing and analyzing geospatial imagery. The new ENVI Orthorectification Module combines the advanced, rigorous model from renowned orthorectification experts, Spacemetric, with an ENVI-based automated workflow approach that steps users through the orthorectification process to geometrically correct an image to remove distortions that occur during image capture. Providing support for a wide set of both satellite and aerial sensors, the ENVI Orthorectification Module makes the complex task of orthorectifying imagery accessible to image analysts of various experience levels, while providing mathematically accurate results.

Accurate, Proven Mathematical Model
The new ENVI Orthorectification Module incorporates the mathematical model for rigorous orthorectification developed by photogrammetric experts at Spacemetric (www.spacemetric.com). Spacemetric’s engineers have worked closely with satellite providers for years to ensure their model is optimized to work with data and imagery from today’s most popular airborne and satellite sensors. The choice of leading global institutions, the Spacemetric model has proven to deliver optimized results with minimal error using GCPs and tie points.

“We are very pleased to have worked with ITT Visual Information Solutions to incorporate our tested models into the new ENVI Orthorectification Module,” said Ian Spence, sales and marketing director for Spacemetric. “With Spacemetric’s technology integrated into ENVI, geospatial imagery users – from experienced researchers and scientists to image analysts – can now deliver expert levels of accuracy in their products,”

New, Automated Workflow Integrated with ENVI Traditional methods for orthorectifying imagery often require extensive knowledge of photogrammetry and complex software systems. Now, the ENVI Orthorectification Module provides a guided workflow that steps users through a step by step process complete with an easy to use interface and instructions for orthorectifying images. To save time a new preview window allows users to set different parameters and view the results before completing the process for the entire image. Like ENVI, the module can also accessed programmatically to extend its sensor support and perform batch processing. And, because it is integrated with ENVI, results from the module can be seamlessly integrated into ENVI workflows for additional image processing and analysis.

“The ENVI Orthorectification Module was designed with both expert and non-experts in mind to allow ENVI users to quickly produce accurate orthorectification results,” explained Beau Legeer, director of product marketing for ITT Visual Information Solutions. “When combined with the additional automated workflows now available in ENVI, this new module creates a seamless, end-to-end process for exploiting imagery, guiding users through data ingest, orthorectification, and analysis,”

The ENVI Orthorectification Module is available for ENVI 4.6, recently released by ITT Visual Information Solutions. For more information, visit www.ittvis.com/envi/ortho.

About ITT Corporation
ITT Corporation is a high-technology engineering and manufacturing company operating on all seven continents in three vital markets: water and fluids management, global defense and security, and motion and flow control. With a heritage of innovation, ITT partners with its customers to deliver extraordinary solutions that create more livable environments, provide protection and safety and connect our world. Headquartered in White Plains, N.Y., the company generated 2008 sales of $11.7 billion. www.itt.com.

About ITT Visual Information Solutions
ITT Visual Information Solutions of Boulder Colorado, a wholly owned subsidiary of ITT Corporation, provides integrated software solutions that help scientists, engineers, researchers, and medical professionals turn complex data into useful information. The company’s 150,000 customers from more than 80 countries use IDL, ENVI and IAS to analyze data and imagery and deploy imaging applications. ITT Visual Information Solutions’ products are used in a variety of industries, including remote sensing, engineering, earth sciences, aerospace, defense and intelligence, medical imaging, oil and gas exploration and biotechnology. Combined with a host of support services including training, consulting and technical support, ITT Visual Information Solutions offers the most complete data visualization, image analysis and image delivery solutions available. For more information visit: www.ittvis.com.

YDO news


Yuzhnoye Design Office
3 Krivorozhskaya St., Dniepropetrovsk, 49008, UKRAINE
Tel +38 (056) 7701565, Fax +38 (056) 7700125; E-mail:
info@yuzhnoye.com, www.yuzhnoye.com; f: 1954;

Activities:
space rocket systems, launch vehicles, missiles, spacecraft, solid and liquid rocket motors as well as their systems;
launch service;
tests: structural, pneumatic hydraulic, electric, climatic, radio-frequency; engine firing bench tests.

Information about YDO scheduled events
Second International Conference
Advanced Space Technologies for the Humankind Prosperity
Start Date: April 15, 2009
End Date: April 17, 2009
Venue: Palace of Students, Shevchenko Park,
Dnepropetrovsk, 49027, Ukraine
E-mail: info@dpukrconfiaa.org
http://www.dpukrconfiaa.org
Third Space and Society Conference
Space: the Human Dimension
Start Date: April 15, 2009
End Date: April 17, 2009
Venue: Palace of Students, Shevchenko Park,
Dnepropetrovsk, 49027, Ukraine
E-mail: info@ yuzhnoye.com
http:// www.space-humandimension.org

(Jan 2009) RapidEye, Germany’s only geospatial solutions provider to own and operate their own satellite constellation, announced today that Beijing Earth Observation, Inc. (BEO), a subsidiary of Eastdawn Group. Inc., will be their Chinese distributor.


“This has promise to be a very lucrative partnership for both companies,” comments John Ahlrichs, RapidEye’s Vice President. “BEO is a proven organization with the experience required to successfully sell and support RapidEye products in China. They are extremely well networked in China’s public and private sectors.”

The agreement between Beijing Earth Observation, Inc. and RapidEye was signed in Beijing late last year between Eastdawn Group’s CEO, Mr. Bing Sun and RapidEye’s CEO, Mr. Wolfgang Biedermann. The contract makes BEO the only distributor of RapidEye’s satellite imagery in China.

“We are extremely proud to have BEO and Eastdawn as our partners in China,” says Mr. Biedermann. “We have spent a lot of time to get to know each other. With BEO we are partnering with a quality company that is a good match for RapidEye, and we are looking forward to a very long term partnership with them. BEO has shown that they have the best business backing, the strongest support staff, and that they are willing to make a significant commitment to the distribution of RapidEye’s products and services over the coming years.”

Mr. Bing Sun, CEO of Eastdawn Group. Inc. stated, “We are very much satisfied with our newly formed partnership with RapidEye. With its 5 satellites and the strongest satellite imagery collection capability to our markets, the RapidEye system has great potential in the Chinese market, especially in the following sectors: agriculture, environmental, insurance and government. We strongly believe our partnership will bring the best satellite technology available as well as service knowhow to the Chinese market. This technology and service knowhow will contribute greatly to the continuous economic growth of our country.”

About Beijing Earth Observation, Inc. (BEO)
Beijing Earth Observation, Inc. was established in early 2007 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Eastdawn Group. Inc., and specializes in providing data distribution services based on multiple remote sensing satellite platforms, as well as remote sensing solutions in the Chinese public and private sectors. For more information about Beijing Earth Observation, Incorporated, please visit www.bjeo.com.cn

About RapidEye AG
RapidEye is an ISO-certified geospatial information provider focused on integrating customized and industry specific solutions into the workflow of global customers in agriculture, forestry, energy, infrastructure, government, security and emergency. RapidEye experts and the satellite system – a constellation of five satellites capable of downloading over 4 million km² of high resolution, multi-spectral imagery per day, and a ground segment for processing and archiving data – allow for cost-effective customized services. The unique combination of large area coverage, high spatial resolution and the possibility of daily revisit to an area provide for superior management information solutions. Currently, more than 90 experts from more than 20 countries are employed by RapidEye, with plans to grow the team to 140 by early 2009.

_RapidEye benefits from a public-private partnership with the Space Agency of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), which is supported by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. RapidEye is also cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). For more information on ERDF
please contact efreinfo@mw.brandenburg.de

RapidEye is a “Selected Landmark in the Land of Ideas” and therefore part of the event series “365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas”. This program is run by the initiative “Germany – Land of Ideas” and Deutsche Bank. Being a “Selected Landmark” RapidEye will stand for Germany being a “Land of ideas” in 2009 and will demonstrate Germany’s spirit of innovation. The initiative is under the patronage of Germany’s federal president Horst Köhler. www.land-of-ideas.org

For more information about RapidEye, please visit www.rapideye.de

RapidEye Contact
RapidEye AG
Molkenmarkt 30, 14776 Brandenburg a. d. Havel, Germany
press@rapideye.de

Eastdawn/BEO Contact
Eastdawn Group, Inc.
10th Floor, Sinosteel Plaza, No.8 Haidian Street
Haidian District, Beijing, P.R. China
Post Code: 100080
Tel: 86-10-62686799 / Fax: 86-10-62686790
Web: http://www.eastdawn.com.cn

Beijing Earth Observation, Inc.
Haidian District, Beijing, P.R. China
Post Code: 100080
Tel: 86-10-82800183/84/85/86/87/88 Fax: 86-10-82800182
Web: http://www.bjeo.com.cn
E-mail: info@bjeo.com.cn

TerraSAR-X Case study

The 2008 MARS annual conference “Geomatics in support of the CAP” – the fourteenth of the series – was held in collaboration with the Slovenian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, at the Cankarjev Dom in Ljubljana. The conference run over three days, from 3 to 5 December 2008.

Gisat, the national contractor for the control with remote sensing (CwRS) of area based agricultural subsidies, has presented its experiences with use of TerraSAR-X data for crop discrimination.
The presentation gave a general overview of the test case study on the use of TerraSAR-X data within CwRS, with particular emphasis on land use detection. The test performed was based on standard procedures of CwRS campaign.

The data set used in the study included TerraSAR-X SpotLite and multi-temporal TerraSAR-X StripMap in single polarisation (5th May, 18th June, 3rd September 2008). The authors presented the results of the case study that was performed in two steps: initially geometrical checks were performed and then TerraSAR-X images were used within CAPI.

Brief description of the first step included: documentation of orthorectification procedures, standard tables reporting quantitative summary of geometrical accuracy (RMS), and qualitative visual checks of the images against LPIS.

The next main part of the case study described test on TerraSAR-X multi-temporal image use within CAPI. There were defined several topics to be addressed. These include discrimination of arable crops, grassland, parcel boundaries detection and detection of non-eligible use indicating e.g. abandoned land. Test on these topics was performed by standard procedures, input and auxiliary data using dedicated software environment.

Conference Presentation

Source Gisat

WALPHOT is participating in LIMES (Land and Sea Integrated Monitoring for European Security), where it developed new EO services for unregulated land border monitoring and land border management. WALPHOT developed a change detection service using TerraSAR-X SpotLight scenes and successfully demonstrated its performance for a test area along the Polish-Ukrainian border.

LIMES is a GMES project and part of the FP6-program. It focuses on the development of applications and services related to security, applying innovative solutions based on Earth Observation systems and satellite communication and positioning technologies. The services in LIMES are clustered in three groups: Maritime surveillance, Land and infrastructure surveillance and Humanitarian Relief and Construction.

In the second cluster, WALPHOT works together with THALES and SRC (Polish Space Research Centre) on the research, development and integration of EO services in land border monitoring and management. Extensive research is being done to identify the role of satellite-based EO applications in a European integrated border control system.
After several consultations with end-users from the local (border guards) to the super-national level (FRONTEX), the Land Border Monitoring team developed three services.

Service 1: Update and enrichment of cartographic data using VHR optical satellite data
Service 2: EO-based fastest route calculation and accessibility maps
Service 3: VHR SAR change detection

Figure 1: Demonstration area (pink) is part of the border area between Poland and Ukraine.

The emphasis in service 1 lies on the harmonization of cross-border data. At many borders there is a lack of harmonized data covering both sides of the border. Updating existing data sources with one harmonized data source (EO data) tackles the problem of data inconsistency in these areas. Service 2 supports the border guards in the dispatching of their troops, as well as giving them an estimation of the travelling time of trespassers after border alert. In service 3, WALPHOT used TerraSAR-X data to detect changes up to the size of single trees. The active SAR sensor makes this service functional at all weather conditions, insensitive of day or night conditions. These small types of changes can be an indication for increased border activities at unmanned border areas between border crossing points.

Figure 2: Two examples of detected changes on the TerraSAR-X scenes (resolution: 0.5m)

Prototype products for all three services have been developed for a part of the Polish-Ukrainian border area (see figure 1). The results have been presented during a demonstration in Warsaw in September 2008, which was attended by different users (FRONTEX, border guards,…).

As partners EUROSENSE and WALPHOT are continuing their work in the security domain. WALPHOT is currently active in 3WSA (Wallonia World Wide Space Applications, Walloon Region), where it is contributing to an EO-based monitoring system for industrial crises.

EUROSENSE will take part in the development/integration of EO services for the monitoring of regional crises outside the EU in the G-MOSAIC project (Gmes Services for Management of Operations, Situation Awareness and Intelligence for regional Crises, EC-FP7-Space). By using its built-up know-how in both aerial and satellite processing, EUROSENSE is also preparing the future for the operational use of Unmanned Air Vehicles in WIMA²S (Wide Maritime Area Airborne Surveillance, EC-FP7-Security). Finally, EUROSENSE is also active in the GLOBE project, where the objective is to provide a roadmap describing the way to a global border environment taking current and future systems in account.

More information
LIMES website

Contact

EUROSENSE
Nerviërslaan, 54
B-1780 Wemmel, Belgium
Tel.: +32 (0)2 460 70 00
Fax: +32 (0)2 460 49 58
Email: info@eurosense.com

WALPHOT
Rue Van Opré, 97
B-5100 Namur, Belgium
Tel.: +32 (0)81 30 24 01
Fax.: +32 (0)81 30 41 67
Email: info@walphot.com

By combining the use of satellite observation data with exogenous data and modelling techniques, EUROSENSE offers several customized services consisting in the production and maintenance of geo-information to support decision making in risk management duties.

This service portfolio of flood risk analysis products is fully in support of the requirements of the EU Flood Directive and is indispensable in the prevention, crisis or post-crisis phase of flood risks and emergency situations. Within the project RiskEOS, customized Flood Risk Analysis products were provided to risk management duties of Slovakia and Bulgaria, respectively for the Danube River Basin and the Maritsa Catchment.

Over the last decennia many regions in Europe have suffered from natural hazards. Disasters like e.g. floods are affecting people more than ever. The threatening of human life and property enhances the need of an effective risk management. The “Flood Risk Analysis” services of EUROSENSE comprise information about past and potential flood events as well as an estimation of potential damages and losses. By integration of these data into management systems an efficient and supportive use of information is enabled.

One part of the Flood Risk Analysis services of EUROSENSE comprises the mapping of “Past Flood Events” .These products are not generated in real time, but from archive data. Based on satellite observation data this product identifies the flood extent of former events at the time of image acquisition. The resulting geo-information is very interesting among others for flood risk preparedness and the planning of protection measures e.g. construction of dams and infrastructures.

Fig.1 represents the Past Flood Extent of the flood event occurred in August 2002 in Slovakia (background (Fig.1A)© SPOTimage; (Fig.1B) CORINE2000 Land Cover

Besides the mapping of “Past Flood Events” EUROSENSE offers the simulation of “Flood Hazard Maps” . Flood hazard modelling provides a multiplicity of information on flood risk zones. Historical or statistical hydraulic data together with topographic information and land use information are used as input to a quasi-2D hydraulic simulation model. The Flood Hazard Maps give an idea on the potential flood extent and expansion, the run velocity and the run direction. This product can be used by the customers to analyze the consequences of possible scenarios (dam failure, extreme events…) and to calculate the potential damage.

The damage assessment product also called “Flood Risk Map”, is also contained by the Flood Risk Analysis portfolio of EUROSENSE. The damage calculation can be based on the simulation results of the “Flood Hazard product” but also on ”Past Flood Maps”, respectively resulting in a potential damage assessment map or a past damage assessment map. The calculation of “Flood Risk Maps” is modeled using – among others – damage functions, land use information and ancillary data. Damage functions express the relation between the susceptibility of assets at risk and certain characteristics, example given the inundation depth.

The cooperation with several end-users proved their interest in the Flood Risk Analysis services. Moreover the Flood Risk Analysis products offered by EUROSENSE are all required for the implementation of the Flood Directive.

Fig.2 represents the city of Bratislava, situated along the Danube River in Slovakia. Fig.2A: the inundation depths for a simulated dam break event, Fig.2B: the potential damage map, Fig. 2C: detailed view on the potential damage map (background imagery © EUROSENSE)

Fig.3 represents the city of Pazardzhik, situated along the banks of the Maritsa River in Bulgaria (© EUROSENSE). Fig.3A: the land use map for Pazardzhik, Fig.3B: the simulated inundation depths for a flood event, Fig. 3C: the potential damage map (background imagery © IRS).

A main input to the Flood Risk Analysis services are land use maps. They can be used to take into account the friction of the several land use classes influencing the propagation of a flood in the Flood Hazard Modelling process. Detailed and up-to-date land use information enhances the estimation of the flood damage to a certain region. The land use maps can also be used as background for the visualization of the past flood maps. EUROSENSE is experienced in EO-land services and developed a specialized classification procedure, based on satellite or digital aerial imagery, which results in detailed and accurate urban/regional land-use and/or land-use change maps.

In regions with a lot of new developments and changes, the existing cartographic material which represents the actual situation is not updated frequently (every 5 or 10 years) and can’t catch up with the changes on the terrain. This can have disastrous consequences when acting in a crisis-situation. The service “Detection and Monitoring of Elements at Risk” of EUROSENSE provides a regularly updated cartography of urban areas in a fixed period of time, depending on the customer requirements. This service makes it possible to frequently provide several end-users with up-to-date maps. The overall focus of the service is to locate and to identify all civilian elements contained by areas prone to risk of natural disaster.

This portfolio shows EUROSENSE’s thorough experience in risk management services. All these described services were also produced and delivered in the frame of the GMES-project RISK-EOS, funded by ESA. Besides Risk-EOS, EUROSENSE is actively involved in several other GMES-projects including the development of the European Urban Atlas product (project GMES Urban Services & GSE-Land).

For more information on these services, we refer to the following contact information:

EUROSENSE Belfotop N.V Belgium
Address: Nerviërslaan 54, B-1780 Wemmel, BELGIUM
Phone: +32 (0)2 460 70 00
Fax: +32 (0)2 460 49 58
Website: http://www.eurosense.com
EUROSENSE S.R.O. Slovakia
Address: Kutuzovova 13, SK-831 03 Bratislava, SLOVAKIA
Phone: +421 (0)2 49 20 37 40
Fax: +421 (0)2 49 20 37 41
Website: http://www.eurosense.sk
EUROSENSE EOOD Bulgaria
Address: Gioeshevo Street 83, Business Center Serdika, 1330 Sofia, BULGARIA
Phone: + 359 (0) 2 920 04 77
Fax: + 359 (0) 2 920 02 59
Website: http://www.eurosense.com

Keystone to replace ESA WMS image server and Spacemetric at 2008 MARS Annual Conference


Keystone to replace ESA WMS image server

(Jan 2009) The European Space Agency (ESA) is transferring the Web Mapping Services (WMS) of its satellite imagery catalogue onto Spacemetric’s Keystone server.

The move to Keystone introduces a new generation of technology that offers enhanced capabilities and new options for future extension of WMS services.

Keystone replaces the existing WMS image server (MUIS2WMS) that was developed for ESA by Spacemetric in 2004. The WMS image server provides orthocorrected image quicklooks in response to queries to the ESA catalogue of satellite data. This enables the results to be displayed in a map view by a WMS client so that relative coverage and content of each image can be reviewed in their true geographical context.

The new Keystone server will be delivered to the Agency during the first quarter of 2009.

Spacemetric at 2008 MARS Annual Conference

(Dec 2008) Spacemetric attended the 2008 MARS Annual Conference co-chairing a session on data serving and winning the conference prize for Best Software Demonstration.

Spacemetric attended the 2008 MARS Annual Conference “Geomatics in support of the CAP held in Ljubljana, Slovenia from 3rd to 5th December 2008. This fourteenth annual conference dealt with CwRS (Control with Remote Sensing), area aid checks in general and the LPIS (Land Parcel Information System). It was jointly hosted by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of the Republic of Slovenia.

As part of Spacemetric’s conference participation the company’s CEO, Lars Edgardh, co-chaired the session Technical 2: Image processing, data serving together with Pär Åstrand of the JRC. Spacemetric also won the conference prize for Best Software Demonstration for Saccess, the Swedish national satellite image database and the Keystone image server that is used by customers including Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd and the European Space Agency.

Highlighted at the conference was the Community Image Data (CID) portal. The CID is a focal point for management and distribution of geospatial imagery within the JRC to which Spacemetric has made significant contributions including catalogue and image geometrical processing capabilities.

About Spacemetric
Spacemetric is a Swedish company providing image management solutions for satellite and airborne imagery. Customers include the Swedish cadastre, mapping and land registry authority, the Swedish Air Force, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. and the European Space Agency.

CONTACT: Ian Spence
EMAIL: is@spacemetric.com
TELEPHONE: +46 8 594 770 83
www.spacemetric.com

(January 2009) SPOT Image Corp. has been awarded a contract from the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to sell SPOT satellite imagery and related products and services to federal, state and local government agencies at pre-negotiated rates.

Offered under the GSA Information Technology (IT-70) Schedule, the new SPOT contract greatly simplifies and accelerates the acquisition process for the multitude of government entities that rely on satellite imagery and derived products to better serve the American public.

SPOT applied for the GSA contract to assist our government customers with the need to immediately acquire time sensitive and mission critical imagery information,” said Antoine de Chassy, President of SPOT Image Corp. “By negotiating attractive pricing and terms, GSA has streamlined the purchasing process for both new and long-time government users of SPOT and FORMOSAT-2 image products.”

Government users of geospatial information will be pleased to find that nearly the entire catalogue of SPOT products has been offered in the GSA contract, including new and archived 2.5m – 20m standard SPOT images in a variety of scene sizes, geo-coded and ortho-rectified SPOTView custom mosaic products, Reference 3D data sets, Digital Elevation Models, SPOTMaps off-the-shelf mosaics, and Vegetation data. The GSA offering also includes some special processing services as well as new and archived imagery from the Taiwanese FORMOSAT-2 satellite.

The contract is effective immediately and will continue through 2013.

About Spot Image

SPOT Image Corporation of Chantilly, VA, is a fully-owned North American subsidiary of Spot Image. With three operational Earth observation satellites in orbit and three more under development, Spot Image is a leading supplier of geospatial information. Headquartered in Toulouse, France, with subsidiaries and offices in Australia, Brazil, China, Japan, Peru, Singapore and the United States, the Spot Image group leverages a global network of ground receiving stations, partners and distributors to bring an extensive variety of geographic information products and services to public- and private-sector decision-makers worldwide.

(source: Spacenewsfeed and SPOT Image)

(Dec 2008) 610 government satellites planned for launch in the next decade


Paris & Montreal, December 18, 2008 – Euroconsult, the leading international research and consulting firm specialized in the satellite sector, announced today that world government space program expenditures are at a historical high of more than $62 billion dollars in 2008, with planned satellite launches in the next ten years to increase 38% over the previous decade.

According to Euroconsult’s new report “Government Space Markets, World Prospects to 2017”, governments have clearly entered a new phase of investment, committing to the development of a new generation of programs worldwide.

Furthermore, government space program expenditures worldwide are expected to grow at 4.5%1 per year through 2012, reaching nearly $70 billion.

Established and emerging programs sustaining overall budget
growth

The development of governments’ space markets is driven by the growth of countries committing to space projects – about 40 countries in 2008, twice as much as a decade ago – as well as the expansion of governments’ nominal investments into their space programs around the world.

For established government space programs security has become a key driver, pushing budgets higher and increasingly – encouraging dual use funding and/or Public Private Partnerships.

This has also led to more complex implementation schemes in the US, Europe, Japan or Russia. New leaders India and China have reached milestones in developing a new generation of systems targeting applications including space science and manned spaceflight, once reserved to the established government space programs. In the coming years they could contribute significantly to new capabilities in space exploration.

After a first wave of programs focused on low-cost projects (often Earth Observation), many emerging government space programs are now considering their next generation programs, often implying large investment to expand capabilities in applications such as SatCom. Countries such as Nigeria and Thailand were among the first to do so, and other countries such as Venezuela and Angola are following suit.

Impact of the economic downturn

“Government space programs are driven by long-term strategic national objectives which are typically less influenced by short-term economic downturns,” remarked Steve Bochinger, Director, Institutional Affairs at Euroconsult. “However, governments could restrain spending on non-priority space program budget items or may find it more difficult to attract private partners to co-fund Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) projects,” he noted. “On the other hand, the economic slowdown may induce governments to increase their investments on infrastructure-related programs to support their economies, as the November Ministerial Council of the European Space Agency demonstrated” he concluded.

Prospects by program type and application

Civil space programs currently benefit from the majority of funding with nearly $33 billion spent by over 40 countries worldwide. In comparison, ten countries invest in defense-related programs for a value of $29 billion. However, 95% of this spending is concentrated in the US. Global government spending on defense programs is likely to catch up to civil program spending in the next five years, with most countries’ defense spending generally trending upward.

Satellite-related applications are clearly driving growth in government programs worldwide with a large number of countries committing to developing or acquiring satellite systems for their own use in specific programs.

Earth observation is the number one satellite-based application worldwide, with government spending $6.7 billion in 2008, i.e. 20% of government non-classified investment in space. Lower cost satellites and ability to address local issues has made EO the top priority application for a number of countries, particularly emerging space programs. Strong growth is expected to continue in civil programs, while expenditures for defense and security programs are likely to stabilize at current budget levels.

Investments in satellite communications (Satcom) programs have been growing steadily reaching 6.6 billion spent in 2008 for both non-classified defense and civil programs. Overall, 128 satellites are planned for launch in the next decade driven by the defense sector as well as projects in developing countries.

Satellite navigation (satnav), $2.6 billion in 2008, has been the fastest growing application in terms of public-sector investment (+21% per year over the past five years). In addition to GPS nextgeneration satellites developed in the United States, Europe, Russia, India, Japan, and China are investing in a new satellite navigation system that should boost the expenditures to $3 billion in 2010. 144 satellites should be launched for navigation applications between 2008 and 2017, i.e., over double that of the past decade.

Manned Spaceflight represents the largest space budget item worldwide with $11.6 billion invested in 2007, an 8% increase over 2006. While this is largely due to the US program at NASA, Russia is also increasing its capabilities to service the Space Station and India and China are investing in this area. While all programs are currently under review, it is expected that the US will continue supporting NASA’s development of the Constellation Systems.

Emerging space programs – both large and small – are bringing new energy to space science, which will drive growth in the number of scientific satellites launched over the next decade (105 satellites planned for launch over 2008-2017 compared to 84 the last decade). However, stagnation or decreases in budgets at major space agencies are not likely to be offset by growth from these newcomers.

Report Profile
This 11th edition of Government Space Markets, Forecasts to 2017 provides an exhaustive assessment of government space programs, financing, and strategic trends for all key government space applications including perspectives for the next ten years.(Applications include Satellite Communications, Earth Observation, Satellite Navigation, Space Science, Manned Spaceflight, Launcher Development, and other Defense Applications). The report serves as a unique qualitative and quantitative benchmark of leading and emerging government space programs around the world.

About Euroconsult
Euroconsult is the leading international consulting and analyst firm specialized in satellite applications, communications, and digital broadcasting. Euroconsult develops comprehensive research reports and forecasts, provides strategic consulting and analysis, and produces world summits. With 25 years of experience and more than 350 satellite-related consulting assignments, Euroconsult has over 560 clients in 50 countries, including leaders throughout the satellite industry: satellite operators and service providers; governments agencies; satellite manufacturers and launch service providers; equipment providers and integrators; media and broadcasting companies; and banks and investors.

www.euroconsult-ec.com

Media Contacts
Europe : Linda Zaiche +33 (0)1 49 23 75 17
zaiche@euroconsult-ec.com
North America: Macha Ejova +1 (514) 750-9750
ejova@euroconsult-ec.com