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ESA is announcing an opportunity for scientists involved in Earth observation to submit proposals for the next potential Earth Explorer satellite mission.

Traditionally, Earth Explorers use new measurement techniques to explore and understand different aspects of the Earth system.

So far, eight missions have been selected. Each was proposed by the scientific community and realised through a user-driven selection process to ensure that they address urgent Earth-science questions.

Reflecting the new Earth Observation Science Strategy for ESA, proposals for the ninth Explorer should not only demonstrate scientific excellence and innovative technology, but also address important scientific questions that have a direct bearing on societal issues humankind will face in the coming decades.

This includes, for example, the availability of food, water, energy and resources, health, risk of disaster and climate change.

It is foreseen that the ninth Explorer will be launched no later than 2024.

The procedure for submitting proposals is two-fold. Initially, ESA must receive a letter of intent by 1 February 2016 and then a full proposal by 24 June 2016. In addition, a workshop for proposers will be held on 8 March 2016.

More information about this Call and the facility to upload Letters of Intent (LOI) and proposals can be found at ESA’s Earth Observation Proposal Upload System website

The following press release was issued by the European Commission on November 25, 2015 12:00 pm.

€26.5 million will be dedicated to the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) & Africa initiative. The aim of this project is to support African policy-makers and planners in the promotion of the sustainable management of natural resources through the use of Earth Observation data.

The project will make use of the technology offered by the European Copernicus programme which promotes the establishment of a European capacity for Earth Observation.

This was announced on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November 2015, as part of the ‘Pan-African Action Plan’.

European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica said: “The actions launched under the Pan-African programme will allow us to deepen our collaboration with Africa to address common challenges such as violence against women, climate change, as well as the promotion of peace, security, good governance and the development of new technologies.”

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The GMES & Africa initiative was established in order to promote cooperation between the European Union and the African Union, to strengthen coordination amongst Earth Observation initiatives, and to facilitate the development of Space-based technologies on the African continent. In October 2015, the Development Cooperation Instrument committee of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO) approved funding support from the Pan-African programme related to this initiative. Three priority topics will be addressed during the initial implementation phase of the initiative (2016 – 2020): long term management of natural resources, marine and coastal areas monitoring and water resources management.

The GMES & Africa initiative was established in 2007 as a firm commitment to cooperative action between Europe and Africa towards the development and implementation of Earth Observation (EO) applications tailored to African requirements. A specific roadmap was developed which applied the programmatic approach of the EU’s Copernicus programme (known as GMES at the time) to the African continent. The GMES & Africa initiative takes place in the wider context of the Africa-EU partnership, aimed at the sustainable development of the African regions and scientific cooperation between Europe and Africa.

The GMES & Africa partnership approach arose as a result of the consensus reached at the Lisbon Summit in December 2007, as part of the 8th Joint Africa-EU Strategy Partnership on Science, Information Society and Space. The Lisbon declaration on GMES & Africa laid out the actions to be undertaken in order to formulate the GMES & Africa Action Plan (GAAP). GMES & Africa will strengthen Africa’s capacities and its ownership of EO activities, acknowledging the importance of past and present African programmes and recognising the need to coordinate actions so as to avoid duplication, increase synergies and enhance complementarities.

After extensive consultations over several years, the African and European experts involved in this initiative defined nine thematic areas for the GMES & Africa information services: i) infrastructure and territorial development, ii) long term management of natural resources, iii) marine and coastal areas, iv) water resources management, v) impact of climate variability change, vi) natural disasters, vii) food security and rural development, viii) conflicts and political crises, ix) health management issues. In addition, five cross-cutting issues were identified: governance, infrastructure, capacity building, financial and monitoring & evaluation.

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Nine GMES & Africa information services defined after extensive consultations. The three topics marked in orange will be implemented during the first phase (2016-2020) under the auspices of the Pan-African Programme of the EC’s DG DEVCO.

The GMES & Africa coordination team, comprised of experts from the African Union Commission (AUC), the European Commission, African and European Member States, regional organisations, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), and the European Space Agency (ESA), selected three of the above-mentioned topics as priority areas to be addressed during the initial implementation phase of the initiative: long-term management of natural resources, water resources management and monitoring of marine and coastal environment.

In October 2015, the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) committee of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO) backed this initiative, providing funding support from the Pan-African programme (EU financial instrument for the development of the cooperation strategy between the European Union and the African Union).

Presently, African organisations are submitting concept notes – expression of interest – to a call issued by the African Union Commission for the implementation of services in the three priority areas.

GMES & Africa will be coordinated by the AUC through a dedicated secretariat to be established (and mandated) once the African Space Policy and Strategy will have been adopted by the African Heads of State at their summit scheduled for February 2016.

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China is planning to build a remote sensing satellite network with global coverage by setting up more ground stations overseas.

China is planning to build a remote sensing satellite network with global coverage by setting up more ground stations overseas. The move will enable China to provide diversified data to foreign users in a timely manner and to better serve social and economic developments.

Yin Liming, president of China Great Wall Industry, the country’s sole provider of commercial satellite launch services, told the Third Aerospace Internationalization Forum in Beijing that China is willing to work with foreign space agencies and international organizations to establish the network, which will mainly depend on Chinese-made satellites.

“By now, we have several ground stations in South America and Africa. We also installed a data applications station on the icebreaker Xuelong,” Yin said. “Next, we want to set up more stations globally, namely on every continent as well as one in the Arctic, to promote the use of Chinese remote-sensing satellites and to speed up the transmission of satellite data.”

In addition, China will establish ground application centers for its Beidou Navigation Satellite System in more foreign countries to further share navigation and positioning information.

Pakistan and China are partnering in a host of satellite data application programs in the country and that the efforts have been helping with telemedicine, agricultural forecasting, an early warning system for disaster and other public welfare services.

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Axelspace Corp., a space business venture originating from the University of Tokyo, will attempt to place into orbit 50 microsatellites from 2017 to 2022 to provide image data covering many parts of the globe.

The satellite image data are expected to find wide-ranging applications, including crop forecasts for large-scale farms in North America and the surveillance of oil fields in oil-producing countries.

It will be the first Japanese company to offer such a service using a number of small satellites.

Axelspace has developed 80-kg microsatellites that are 60cm by cm 60 by 80 cm in dimension each. A cluster of 50 such satellites will cover 45 percent of all land on Earth and make daily updates to information on almost all geographical areas where economic activities are carried out.

A single microsatellite can be manufactured for only one-100th of the production cost of a large satellite. Thanks to the low cost, the prices of the planned satellite image service are expected to be 10 percent lower than similar services.

By analyzing accumulated data, Axelspace also plans to provide a service to predict future developments in many fields, officials said.

The company plans to send into orbit three microsatellites in 2017 and start providing image data the following year.

A group of investors will kick in ¥1.9 billion to help finance the start of the service and will work with Axelspace to operate it. The investors include Tokyo-based venture capital Global Brain Corp., major trading house Mitsui & Co., broadcast and communications satellite operator Sky Perfect JSAT Corp. and weather information service provider Weathernews Inc.

“We’re looking at a stock listing in the future,” Axelspace President Yuya Nakamura said of financing plans for the launch of the microsatellites.

The satellite image data to be supplied by Axelspace will have a resolution that is able to identify automobiles on land, but cannot recognize human faces.

The market for high-resolution images capable of facial identification has seen intensified competition among U.S. businesses. In addition, handling such images involves privacy protection and other problems.

While steering clear of the competition and to reduce risks, Axelspace anticipates demand for its service in a wide range of areas, including weather observation and studies on traffic volumes.

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XICHANG, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) — China on Tuesday launched its most sophisticated observation satellite, Gaofen-4, as part of the country’s high-definition (HD) earth observation project.

Gaofen-4 was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan at 00:04 a.m. aboard a Long March-3B carrier rocket. It was the 222th flight of the Long March rocket series, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND).

Gaofen-4 is China’s first geosynchronous orbit HD optical imaging satellite and the world’s most sophisticated HD geosynchronous orbit remote sensing satellite, according to Xu Dazhe, head of SASTIND and China National Space Administration.

The successful launch of Gaofen-4 was the 19th space mission in this year. It will be used for disaster prevention and relief, surveillance of geological disasters and forest disasters, and meteorologic forecast, according to Tong Xudong, the chief designer of the Gaofen project with SASTIND.

The Gaofen project aims to launch seven high-definition observation satellites before 2020.

Gaofen-1, the first satellite of the project, was launched in April 2013.

Different from Gaofen-1 and Gaofen-2 in low orbits (600-700 km) around the earth, Gaofen-4 is located at the orbit 36,000 kilometers away from the earth and moves synchronously with the earth.

It can “see” an oil tanker on the sea with a huge CMOS camera, reaching the best imaging level among global high-orbit remote sensing satellites, according to Li Guo, chief designer of Gaofen-4.

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(Nov 2015) ESA and the Canadian Space Agency have signed an agreement that facilitates access to the Sentinel satellite data primarily for users from Canada.

The agreement includes the deployment of Collaborative Archiving and Dissemination Centres and a National mirror site, all under the lead of the Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation.

Since the launch of Sentinel-1A in April 2014, data from the Sentinel satellites and contributing missions to the Copernicus programme are freely accessible.

This dedicated agreement will facilitate Sentinel data exploitation through the Canadian Collaborative Archiving and Dissemination Centres.

The Collaborative Data Hub will soon coordinate ground segment activities in the country – such as hosting, distributing, ensuring access and archiving Sentinel data – and act as an interface between ESA and national Canadian initiatives. This will be done through a ‘national mirror site’, under the lead of the Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation.

The agreement also established ESA’s role as coordinator of the Copernicus ‘space component’. The Agency will ensure direct access to Sentinel data, provide technical advice on the setting up of data acquisition and dissemination, and make data processing and archiving software available to national initiatives.

Canada is the ninth Participating State to have signed the agreement, following Greece, Norway, Italy, Finland, Germany, France, UK and Sweden.

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Nov. 5, 2015—Australia’s access to vital satellite data has been assured through the signing of a cooperation arrangement in Brussels today between the Australian Government and the European Commission.

The agreement provides access to Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth Observation and Monitoring programme, which captures imagery of our planet and its environment for the ultimate benefit of all citizens.

Australia’s Assistant Minister for Science Karen Andrews applauded the arrangement which provides Australia with access to the most comprehensive Earth observation programme in world history.

“Australia’s economy already benefits from satellite data to the tune of $4.3 billion annually. This agreement secures a reliable long-term supply of high-quality data in an area expected to grow substantially over the next ten years,” said Ms Andrews.

“Through our research sector, spatial industry, and our national science agencies Geoscience Australia and CSIRO, we envision data from Copernicus’s satellites creating great opportunities for businesses small and large, in Europe and Australia, working together to create innovative, economy-changing products and services.”

“The satellites will offer unprecedented capture of the Australian landscape with detailed, around-the-clock imagery to support the management of iconic environmental sites like the Great Barrier Reef, and monitor changes to our lakes and river systems.

The data will also stimulate the development of new applications and services relevant to Australia’s agriculture, fisheries, transport, mining and energy sectors, and help build regional and world economies,” said Assistant Minister Andrews.

The agreement was signed between the Australian Government, represented by Dr Stuart Minchin of Geoscience Australia, and the European Commission, represented by Dr Philippe Brunet, Director of Space Policy, Copernicus and Defence.

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The World Bank and ESA signed an agreement on using information from Earth observation satellites in support of sustainable development. The agreement was signed at COP21 Climate Summit in Paris.

The World Bank is one of the world’s largest sources of development assistance. It provides financial support to projects especially in low and middle-income countries through loans and grants.

ESA’s partnership with the World Bank is anchored within the Bank’s Sustainable Development Cluster, which is the largest network of Global Practices in the World Bank. The collaboration started in 2008, with over 35 projects already carried out.

The MOI signed on December 3 takes these initial experiences and expands the partnership to explore on a larger scale how satellite information can be integrated and mainstreamed into the projects and research of the World Bank. This expanded collaboration will focus on ten areas: water, agriculture, urban growth, oceans, disaster risk management, energy and extractives, forests, fragile states, and climate, according to the World Bank.

“Earth observation is key to the sustainable development goals,” emphasised Laura Tuck, World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development, at the signing of the Memorandum of Intent in Paris.

By using Earth observation, organisations in developing countries will increase their technical capacities and will be able to collect a wide range of information from satellites. This will also strengthen their development plans and initiatives.

“This collaboration with the World Bank opens a new user community for the geospatial information our satellites are delivering from space,” says ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, Volker Liebig.

“It will also support the development of investment projects to boost prosperity and inclusive growth. This is an excellent initiative for ESA and the World Bank, but especially for ensuring sustainable growth in the future.”

This strategic partnership will lead to new opportunities throughout the development sector while using the satellite capabilities developed for better management of our planet’s resources.

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