EARSC New Office

Moving Forward to Strengthen the Geoinformation Services Business

Workshop: Impact of GMES Governance Models on Industry

May 2009, Brussels

Interview with Thales Alenia Space

EARSC had the excellent opportunity of including a short interview with Mr. Hervé Buret, the Solutions & Applications Director from the Navigation & Integrated Communications Business Unit of Thales Alenia Space to talk about some aspects relevant for the European and International Navigation/LBS sector and possible links with geo-information.

Aurensis signs a strategic agreement with CatUAV

(Nov 2008) This past 26th November Aurensis has signed an agreement with CatUAV to be sole distributors of value-added geo-information services with UAV technology.

Definiens and Image Analysis in Earth Sciences

Every day, remote sensing provides thousands of images from a huge variety of sensors – from simple black and white photographs to hyperspectral imagery with hundreds of channels.

Euroconsult Report:"Government Space Program Expenditures Worldwide Hit a Record $62 billion"

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

EUROSENSE provides important geo-information to several players in the risk management cycle

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.

GAF to establish a computerized mining title cadastre and registry for Mongolia

(Winter 2008) GAF has been awarded a contract to design and establish the new automated and countrywide Mining Registry and Cadastre System for Mongolia.

GEO-ID News

GEO-ID News

GIM news

New GIM website (Geographic Informaitn Management)

Gisat presented at the 2008 MARS annual conference in Slovenia.

TerraSAR-X Case study

GMV: Emergency drill under the Osiris project

(Nov 2008) GMV successfully organized a toxic gas leak emergency drill in Valladolid (Spain).

Infoterra Global news

Latest news

INSA: Ground segment design Ingenio and Paz satellites

Work is forging ahead on Ingenio and Paz, Spain’s future Earth observation satellites.

New IFSAR Elevation Data for the Vienna International airport

(Nov 2008) GeoVille Group and Intermap Technologies – highly accurate elevation models

Partnering With China: Beijing Earth Observation To Distribute RapidEye Products

(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.

PCI Geomatics: Latest News

PCI News

Planetek Italia Joins DigitalGlobe Reseller Network

(Nov 2008) Planetek Italia is now an authorized distributor of DigitalGlobe’s high resolution world imagery solutions to customers in Italy and Greece.

RapidEye Introduces Image Gallery on Their Website (November 27, 2008)

(nov 2008) RapidEye is pleased to announce the “opening” of their new Image Gallery on their website (www.rapideye.de).

Spacemetric News "Image Management Solutions"

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

SPOT Image Corp. Awarded GSA Contract

(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.

Spot Image Introduces New Services for Google Earth Users

Spot Image introduced two new service offerings developed to provide clients with direct access to SPOT satellite imagery in the Google Earth environment.

Telespazio news

Latest News

Vega Group and SELEX Systems

In January 2009, VEGA Group PLC was merged with SELEX Systems Integration Ltd to offer a wider and deeper range of capabilities to its clients.

WALPHOT uses TerraSAR-X data for land border monitoring

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.

Yuzhnoye Design Office News

YDO news

Boeing to Launch 4th Earth-Observation Satellite for Italy

(Dec 2008) The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA), through its commercial launch business, has received a contract to launch the fourth satellite for the COSMO-SkyMed (Constellation of Small Satellites for Mediterranean basin Observation) program for Thales Alenia Space Italia, prime contractor of the Italian Space Agency.

China launched a remote-sensing satellite, “Yaogan V” in Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center

(Dec 2008) China successfully launched a remote-sensing satellite, “Yaogan V” in Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center.

EADS gets EU approval to buy British satellite firm SSTL

(Dec 2008) European aircraft manufacturer EADS (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) gained clearance from European Union antitrust regulators on Thursday to buy British satellite maker Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, the European Commission said.

ESA global land cover map available online

(Dec 2008) ESA’s global land cover map, which is ten times sharper than any previous global satellite map, is now available to the public online from the GlobCover website. It is the highest resolution land cover map that has been completely validated ever released.

ESA joins the fight for health and safety

The European Space Agency is throwing its full support behind an initiative spearheaded by the Portuguese National Health Institute for the development of a Health Early Warning System (HEWS). This system will enable the timely detection and tracking of emerging threats to public health and safety via satellite.

EUMETSAT Completes 66th Council Meeting With Positive Results

(Dec 2008) EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, held its 66th Council meeting in Darmstadt, Germany, from December 9th through 10th.

France Digital Maps Added to Intermap Technologies’ NEXTMap Europe Countrywide Mapping Database

Intermap Technologies announced that its NEXTMap® Europe program reached another significant milestone in December by making elevation data for the entire country of France commercially available.

France to finance Vietnam’s second satellite project

(Jan 2009) VietNamNet Bridge – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, agreed that France would be the provider of technology and official development assistance (ODA) for the natural resources, environment and disaster monitoring small satellite (VNREADSat-1), Vietnam’s second satellite after Vinasat-1.

From V1: What are the differences between North American and European geospatial initiatives and approaches?

(Dec 2008) Source Vector 1 Media. Articles by Jeff Thurston and Matt Ball

GeoEye-2 the World Highest Resolution Satellite in Development

(Jan 2009) GeoEye, a leading producer of satellite and aerial imagery and geospatial information, today announced it has contracted with ITT Corporation to begin work on the camera for GeoEye’s next satellite, GeoEye-2.

GMES Emergency Services to ensure complete disaster responses

(Nov 2008) The International Charter “Space and Major Disasters”, launched by CNES (the French Space Agency) and ESA, and signed on 20 October 2000, is a global disaster response system dedicated to delivering satellite data through an established and organised user base, the so-called authorized users.

India to launch exclusive satellite for climate

(Dec 2008) Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair has said that after the success of Chandrayaan 1, India’s Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is going to launch an exclusive weather satellite jointly with the French space agency CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales) in 2009

Indian Farmers To Consult Scientists Via Satellite

(Jan 2009) Farmers of Northeast can now interact with top scientists of the country and seek solutions to their problems related to farming, market, health and weather dynamics from their nearest Village Resource Centres (VRC).

Japan rocket to launch South Korean satellite

(Jan 2009) Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said on Monday it had received an order from South Korea’s aerospace agency to launch one if its satellites, marking the first time a Japanese rocket will carry a foreign satellite.

Japan Set To Launch Greenhouse Gas-Monitoring Satellite

Japan is set to launch its Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) this month in an effort to monitor the emissions of carbon dioxide and methane around the world.

Lockheed Martin, Thales Alenia Space Partner to Deliver Space Radar Solutions for Global Customers

(Dec 2008) Lockheed Martin (LMT:Lockheed Martin Corporation (Holding Company) and Thales Alenia Space of Italy announced today they are forming a strategic partnership to jointly develop and deliver a new family of space-based remote sensing systems for customers around the world.

Malaysia uses satellite to fight illegal logging: report

(Dec 2008) Malaysia is zooming in on forests with a satellite in order to fight illegal logging which its government says is harming the major timber exporting country, a report said last week December 2008.

MERIS & (A)ATSR workshop

Supervised Crop Classification from Medium Resolution Multitemporal Images.

Multi-satellite imaging helps farmers control costs and boost yields

(Jan 2009) DMCii and DynAgra help farmers control costs and boost yields

NASA and USAID Bring Earth-Observation Benefits to Africa

(Dec 2008) NASA, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and their international partners cut the ribbon Friday in Nairobi, Kenya, for SERVIR-Africa. The SERVIR-Africa system integrates the satellite resources of the United States and other countries into a Web-based Earth information system.

New satellite techniques for looking at climate change

Oman Signs IODC Licence Agreement

(January 2009) At the end of the old year, Oman signed a licence agreement with Eumetsat for access to data from Eumetsat’s Indian Ocean Data Coverage (IODC) service.

Reminder, Free, Global Access to USGS Earth Imagery

(Dec 2008) Scientists and decision makers will soon have unrestricted global access at no charge to the USGS Landsat archive, the world�s most extensive collection of continuously acquired land imagery.

Sat nav signals enlisted to measure ocean wind and waves

(Jan 2009) It’s rarely a problem to tell how rough the sea is when you’re afloat on it. But gauging conditions from a distance and across a wider area has always proved much harder.

Satellite will show how the earth 'breathes'

(Jan 2009) A satellite that will measure how the earth “breathes out” greenhouse gases is to be launched into space this month.

Satellites help locate water in Niger

Like most sub-Saharan African countries, Niger faces problems meeting its water needs. As part of ESA’s TIGER initiative, satellite data are being used to identify underground water resources in the drought-prone country.

Satellites provide vital information in battle against food crisis

Even when the food crisis does not make the headlines, the world’s poorer countries suffer from scarcity the most. However, advanced technology in the sky can help on the ground.

Towards the Colombian conquest of space

(Dec 2008) In the coming days, the Colombian government will make a very important decision for the country: how and when to launch the first national satellite. There are multiple options on the table – and contradictory positions

UN Climate Conference: The countdown to Copenhagen

In 331 days’ time, 15,000 officials from 200 countries will gather in the Danish capital with 1 goal: to find a solution to global warming. Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor, presents the first in a series of dispatches on the crucial summit

V1: Ten Predictions for 2009

(Jan 2009) Written by Vector1Media

Vietnam To Launch First Remote Sensing Satellite By 2012

(Dec 2008) Vietnam plans to launch its first remote sensing satellite by 2012, the local newspaper Vietnam News Agency reported Friday. The country is now carrying out its satellite-launching project, worth about 100 million U.S. dollars.

Will economic stimulus spending provide a launch pad for geospatial innovation?

Written by Matt Ball V1 Magazine

Data for GMES Services are now available on a ESA website

(Dec 2008) ESA announced the launch of a new website through which data for GMES Services can be obtained.

European Ministers inject new impetus to ensure space’s role as a key asset in facing global challenges

ESA PR 47-2008. The Ministers in charge of space activities in the European Space Agency’s 18 Member States and Canada concluded a successful two-day Council meeting in The Hague, agreeing to undertake new initiatives in several fields and endorsing the next phases of a set of ongoing programmes.

GMES services in the security field to be further developed

(Nov 2008) The Final Report on the Initial Period of the GMES Action Plan, which was presented on 26 November 2003, has recognised the European Civil Protection (ECP) as one of the GMES service categories and stressed the need to develop enabling e-infrastructures and virtual organisation services for specific GMES applications.

Landmark year ahead for Earth observation science missions

With three Earth Explorer satellites set to launch this year, another three under construction and up to three more about to be selected for feasibility study, 2009 promises to be a significant year for ESA’s contribution to Earth science – paving the way to a clearer understanding of how our planet works.

Spotlight on EU - EO projects

Urban Atlas: Europe's eye in the sky provides cities with tools for smart development

European cities and municipal authorities face significant new challenges for future urban planning in the coming years and this project provides a practical and cost-effective solution for their needs.