By Chris Forrester
Peter de Selding (Co-Founder & Chief Editor, Space Intel Report) moderated the Earth Observation (EO) and Climate Monitoring session at the SmallSat Europe event in Amsterdam on May 27. He said that EO, now with the increasing focus of climate change, was a crucial task for smaller satellites. He also told delegates that the upcoming EU-backed ‘Space Act’ would apply to European as well as non-European parties who wanted to work over Europe. The intention, said De Selding, was to give European players an advantage over non-European rivals.
Dr. Malcolm Davidson, Head of the Campaigns Section in the Earth and Mission Sciences Division, European Space Agency (ESA) told delegates that his department was handling a variety of EO projects and included Copernicus and its long-term mission. Type 2 was meteo-based. Science-based research missions included measurements from space with laser and with a focus on climate change. His department also looked after the ‘Scout’ missions which were smaller craft and with a speedy approach to the market and an indicator for demand for smallsats.
Andrea Vena, Chief Climate and Sustainability Officer, European Space Agency (ESA) said his responsibility was to look after the other side of the coin, and because ESA wanted to be role-model for the industry as a whole especially in terms of sustainability and as part of ESA’s Green Agenda.
Jarkko Antila (CEO, Kuva Space Oy) is very much in EO and is targeting 100 satellite to be in orbit by the end of this decade. This would give the business an ‘always on’ view of a client’s demand which could range from a complete Continent or down to a village. The aim is to have the data available in real time helped by on-board processing. Their client portfolio includes military as well as crop examinations. “We aim to get crucial information to the client in 15 minutes and by the end of the decade we will be covering the planet three times per day.” The Finnish government has helped Kuva and it also has private investors.
Nina Soleng (Head of Communications, KSAT – Kongsberg Satellite Services) happily told delegates that K-sat’s impressive Earth station site in Svalbard could now be seen in the latest Mission Impossible movie. She explained that as a resident of the Arctic and that climate change in the Arctic was happening 4-times faster than the planet in general.
Dr. Marco Esposito (Managing Director, cosine Remote Sensing) said his core business was in building measurement solutions for far-distant parts of space, and closer to Earth its backbone business was in sensors and matched with powerful computing. They are working with Australia using cosine’s equipment for monitoring landslides, floods and related events.