Spatial technologies allow indispensable contributions in the field of the environment and to return essential services for the citizen well-being. They are global tools by definition whether it is in term of observation, telecommunications or positioning.
They are also indispensable in all the phases of crisis management (prevention, alert, communications of crisis, identification of damages and zones to help, restoring infrastructures, guiding emergency teams)
For more than twenty years, THALES ALENIA SPACE has participated in space systems and applications.
As examples, in the satellite domain, TAS led or participated in the following:
-Meteorology observation satellite (METEOSAT, MSG, MTG), optical instrument VEGETATION for the land observation, MERIS for ocean color, and OLCI the new ocean and land imager on GMES Sentinel 3.
-Radars satellites ERS, COSMO-SKYMED system, and instrument ASAR on ENVISAT as well as CRYOSAT for the observation of ice.
-TOPEX-POSEIDON and JASON for the oceanography;
-Interferometry for atmospheric analysis: IASI on board on METOP
-Development of spatial solutions of navigation (EGNOS and soon GALILEO)
-Communication satellites for civilian and military applications for customers worldwide (Europe, Middle-East, Asia, Africa et America)
-Sentinels GMES S1 (radar) and S3 (oceanography)
THALES ALENIA SPACE is involved in oceanography and marine applications, atmosphere, climate change, risks and security in international or national European programs. In particular TAS is involved in the carbon cycle and water cycle initiatives. TAS works with the users on the implementation of optimized solutions.
TAS is coordinating the project AQUAMAR (organization of services for the quality of coastal waters within the framework of the downstream services of GMES) and leader of the project ESA MARCOAST on similar topics. In addition TAS participates in the CARBON and PASODOBLE projects in the atmosphere domain (Downstream services of GMES) as well as in the projects MARISS and G MOSAIC of GMES.
MARISS aims at consolidating Maritime Security Service chain specification implementation in Mediterranean Critical Areas.
G-MOSAIC services will support the prevention and management of external Regional Crisis and the relevant EU intervention for instance for peace keeping, peace enforcing, crisis prevention, EU citizens rescue.
G-Mosaic services
Within the framework of the project ASTRO + whose mission was to study and demonstrate how space technologies and capabilities can contribute to security operations, in the broadest sense, including humanitarian aid and rescue efforts, TAS has implemented a ground experiment based on land and satellite solutions integrating observation, telecommunication and navigation.
Astro + mission
In the Risk management area, TAS is involved in the European program LINKER to make the link between the services of GMES and the users in member states, in an ESA study of crisis management spatial architecture and supplies solutions of telecommunications and applications for export.
TAS also proposes solutions of management of crisis with the container EMERGESAT, developed with CNES. This heli-transportable container allows satellite connections of the bidirectional broadband type ( DVB-RCS) deployed within ten minutes as well as technologies radio land of type WiFi and GSM. It allows the rescue team to work in coordination, offering an efficient management of international humanitarian aid in any weather, even where national conventional telecommunication means are destroyed or saturated. Thanks to IP-based applications, EMERGESAT allows local and distant participants to share maps of the impacted zones and to exchange data (inventories of the expanded means, description of damages, etc.), EMERGESAT also facilitates the evaluation of the human and logistic needs, the coordination of the interventions, the medical care, etc.
The EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE of Guyana was equipped with an EMERGESAT container which it uses in a operational way (used recently in Haiti).
TAS also works in several projects related to the telemedicine such as the European HEALTHWARE project.
Besides, TAS introduced, with the EUROPOLE of Arbois, the so-called Pole of Competitiveness “ Management of Risks and Vulnerability of Territories “ in the South of France. In this context, TAS is involved with his partners in projects for monitoring the environment. In particular TAS is leading the project RATCOM: network of alert of tsunamis and to the integration of solutions of telecommunication to alert the population. TAS also participates in other Poles of Competitiveness: “SEA”, “Aerospace Valley”, “Secure Communicating Solutions”, “OPTITEC”.
TAS is strongly involved in African projects. Having set up 48 PUMA stations (weather report stations) in the African countries, TAS is leading the consortium in charge of the technical support to the African Union within the framework of the AMESD program (African Monitoring of Environment for Sustainable Development).
EUMETCast reception station of the Mauritius Oceanography Institute Quatre Bornes / Mauritius Inaugurated on 26/06/2009
It is a pillar of future GMES Africa in whom EUMETSAT plays an essential role. This program deploys environmental stations in the same countries and develops value added services to better manage water related aspects (seaworthiness of big rivers, quality of waters, drought and agriculture). TAS is also starting the LEGEND EO project (International cooperation EU) which aims at a better use of the Earth Observation information in Africa.
In addition TAS participates in projects connected to the architecture of systems of distributed information and to the interoperability of these systems, whether it is for the management of the risks (European WIN project) or of the environment (GENESIS: quality of the water and the air).
In this framework, TAS and its partners implemented ground experiments. For example, the WIN project experiment CANTIC, which is a scenario of floods involving all the local users and the state services in the VAR Plain, integrating observation, telecommunication and navigation, or the GENESIS project dealing with water and air quality in various European sites.
TAS is a major space domain actor today, and contributes also to the development of applications and solutions. Today the implementation of long-lasting and optimized solutions results from the permanent dialogue between the actors of the chain, the suppliers of data, the suppliers of services and the users. It is only by pooling efficiently these skills that tomorrow’ services can be successful.