UK satellite operator and Earth observation experts Airbus Defence and Space has conducted a pilot project for Network Rail delivering land use and land use change data around the UK rail network. Project LUCI (Land Use Change Identification) was developed under ESA’s Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) programme. It delivers a baseline land use report tailored to Network Rail’s specifications which is updated every six months to provide accurate and timely information at a scale and resolution previously unavailable to Network Rail.

The initial project delivers baseline land use information for 25% of the UK rail network, at a resolution of 50cm.  Derived from Airbus Pleiades VHR optical imagery and using supporting datasets including ESA’s Sentinels 1 and 2, the service is updated every six months with fresh imagery.  A layer is produced highlighting areas that have undergone change, therefore identifying the changing risk profile of the area.

Visualising and analysing the land adjacent to railway infrastructure is a key factor in developing and maintaining efficient networks. Both large and small-scale land use changes can have serious and potentially dangerous implications for railway networks; geospatial data can identify and anticipate these risks, enabling operators to understand the effects and develop sustainable solutions. For example, if land adjacent to a railway has been recently developed and now contains more impervious surfaces, the area may be at increased risk of flooding. This flood risk could have an impact on the railway lines, putting lives in danger on and off the track.

“Airbus continues its partnership with Network Rail to deliver detailed land use data and change information,” said Thomas Harling at Airbus. “Our partnership, supported by ESA, highlights how Airbus imagery partnered with our AI and land use expertise can drive innovation in the geospatial industry.  LUCI demonstrates that actionable intelligence from space can make a difference to businesses and ultimately to public safety”

Airbus has shown that accurate land use information can be produced and updated at much faster frequencies than that provided by aerial survey.  Airbus has also shown that the level of detail available is much higher than from traditional land use data sources.

The results from project LUCI have been analysed and demonstrate that the data can provide valuable actionable intelligence .  This data enables Network Rail to have an up-to-date picture of the landscape around the railway boundaries and means that they can optimise the use of resources and focus them on the areas most at risk.  This is far more cost effective than  systematic inspections and can lead to quicker response times.

“Space technologies are an enabler for the digitalisation of railways. In particular, the use of satellite Earth observation data allows for  efficient management of rail infrastructure, with a reduction of operational costs” says Enrico Spinelli, ESA Technical Officer of the LUCI demonstration project. 

By leveraging geospatial data, Network Rail have the operational tools to stay on top of these changes in land use and develop plans to ensure the safety and sustainability of their networks, their employees, and the passengers they serve.

“Network Rail is proud to invest our R&D resources into this important initiative across multiple off-track disciplines,” said Stephen Brooks from Network Rail. “Maintaining safe and sustainable railway networks to best serve our clients is our top priority, and the data-driven insights delivered by Airbus will better enable us to provide transportation to the people of Great Britain. The LUCI project will enable us to better understand land use change beyond our boundary fence that may impact the operational railway.”

The processing technology behind project LUCI will allow the project to be scaled across the whole of the UK network and to other rail networks as needed.

 

Insurance companies and homeowners in Romania are benefiting from a new service which combines a range of satellite data with innovative technologies to provide fast and accurate information on the impact of natural catastrophes and extreme weather events. GeoInsure was developed as a Demonstration Project under ESA’s Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) programme by the Romanian company Terrasigna and the new platform is already being used successfully by key players in the insurance sector in Romania.

Romania is prone to floods, landslides and earthquakes which affect a significant percentage of the population, leading to legislation being passed requiring homes to be insured against these risks. Due to the large number of households affected each year, even the management of insurance claims can become costly.  The insurance sector needs accurate data to assess the damage caused by natural events in specific locations and time frames more efficiently, to reduce the time required to process claims and pay the affected homeowners and even to identify cases of potential insurance fraud. Terrasigna recognised that, although geospatial intelligence could be invaluable for the (re)insurance sector, there had been minimal use and uptake of this to date. Moreover, customers were found to lack a geographic perspective of their portfolio and an official dataset of geocoded addresses in Romania was not available. 

The GeoInsure platform combines Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and Earth Observation (EO) data, including Copernicus Services, with state-of-the-art technologies to produce clear, customised reports facilitating immediate damage assessment as well as accurate and speedy processing of claims submitted following natural disasters. It also provides alerts, notifying of imminent risk if a specific region experiences abnormal natural events, such as increased rainfall or rising river levels. All alerts are preserved, allowing the insurer, through the GeoInsure intuitive interface, to check historic conditions for a received damage claim. The platform also offers accurate and dynamic mapping of risk zones for areas under threat of natural disasters, such as flooding and earthquakes, enabling enhanced risk assessment and management for both householders and insurance companies when reinsuring their portfolio. Tracking environmental conditions over time also means users can better understand and predict risk patterns in specific areas. 

“We are pleased to have supported this project which has the potential to not only help assess damage caused by natural disasters but also to enable those affected to manage risk going forward” said Francesco Feliciani, Head of the Company Led Projects Division at ESA.

Throughout the two-year development and pilot phase of the project, Terrasigna worked closely with two leading Romanian insurance companies to address their key challenges and to ensure the service is user-friendly and accessible, even to those with little or no experience of using geospatial data. The geocoding element was particularly valued by users since it allows them to build a better understanding of their portfolio and improve their workflow to accommodate the geospatial component. Terrasigna provides two types of contracts for GeoInsure potential beneficiaries: firstly the full installation of the GeoInsure platform on their premises and secondly, sign-in access to an intuitive web-based service, accessing the platform on Terrasigna’s infrastructure. Consultation during the pilot phase has also led Terrasigna to develop bespoke training to increase customer confidence in using this type of platform.

“The support provided by ESA during the two-year development of GeoInsure was crucial in refining the technology and ensuring its efficacy. This collaboration serves as a prime example of how innovation thrives through strong partnerships." said Florin Șerban, Managing Director of Terrasigna.

The next phase for GeoInsure will focus on fine-tuning the platform’s design in readiness for launching on the commercial market and upscaling the service across Europe and beyond.  GeoInsure is at the heart of a wider initiative to provide services not only for household insurers but also the agricultural sector, with the potential to develop diagnostic aspects of the platform further, including the prediction of flooding in specific regions and risk mitigation.

With the aviation sector accounting for around 2.5% of global CO2 emissions, developing smarter and greener practices for airlines and associated industries is both a major challenge and a global imperative. As part of the European Space Agency’s Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) programme and supported by the UK Space Agency (UKSA), UK green aerospace company SATAVIA has successfully completed a Demonstration Project involving contrail management trials with multiple airlines. The atmospheric modelling platform developed in the project has the potential to significantly reduce the impact of air travel on the environment. 

In 2021, the United Nations IPCC Climate Impact Report stated that aviation’s non-CO2 climate impacts constituted a highly significant component of the sector’s overall climate footprint, largely due to the creation of aircraft condensation trials (contrails). Contrails form at high altitudes when water vapour from aircraft engine exhaust freezes into ice crystals. Contrails mostly dissipate quickly, but in some conditions they can persist for many hours. These contrails can trap heat from the Earth, especially at night when sunlight is absent, thus contributing to atmospheric global warming. Using a conservative metric (GWP100), aircraft contrails account for more than half the climate impact of aviation’s CO2 footprint. 

The SATAVIA DECISIONX:NETZERO project saw an evolution of the company’s core DECISIONX technology, developed under an earlier project with ESA BASS, which used airborne contaminant, satellite and aircraft datasets to optimise jet engine maintenance cycles (leading to potential for 9% increase in time-on-wing and saving up to $55K per aircraft per year). Building on this core technology, SATAVIA coupled numerical weather prediction modelling with per-flight contrail climate impact modelling. This approach enables the identification of individual flights which are likely to form persistent warming contrails, in turn enabling navigational avoidance and climate benefit calculations. Leveraging this technological capability, the project set out to demonstrate that contrail management is operationally possible and offers credible non-CO2 climate impact savings.

SATAVIA engaged twelve airlines including Condor, Icelandair, and SunExpress for the next stage of the project, deploying its sophisticated atmospheric modelling technology to optimise 65 flights for contrail management. The technology was able to identify airspace where warming persistent contrails are most likely to form and, as a consequence, optimise flight plans in real time to prevent this taking place. These trials saw an average reduction in non-CO2 climate impact of >40 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (T/CO2e) per optimised flight, with a total prevented climate impact of more than 2,200 T/CO2e in total. Interestingly, this flight optimisation saw minimal impact upon flight times and fuel consumption, especially during long haul flights.

“The trials conducted during the project were very positive.  All the airlines involved took this project very seriously throughout and the funding from ESA made it possible for SATAVIA to engage a larger number of airlines, resulting in a wider data range,” said Arnaud Runge, Technical Officer at the European Space Agency, who also holds an airline pilot license. “The trials were vital in highlighting how space technologies can support the environmental efforts being made in aviation, at a challenging time for the sector.” 

 

Dr Craig Brown, Director of Investment at the UK Space Agency, said: “We know that aviation is a key contributor to carbon emissions, so it’s vital to explore how technologies such as greener fuels can address this. The results from the DECISIONX trials – which used ESA’s Earth observation data for atmospheric modelling  – demonstrate how fundamental the use of space is to this global ambition. SATAVIA’s technology could make a significant impact on the voluntary carbon market, boosting opportunities for aviation sector investment in the UK, while supporting major industry initiatives against climate change.”

For the first time in the sector, 2025 will see the introduction of mandatory monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) of aviation’s non-CO2 impacts (including contrails) under the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS), as the commercial aviation sector looks to mitigate the damaging effects of contrails, soot, nitrous oxides, and other non-CO2 effects. By the end of 2027, the European Commission will also submit a report that may lead to mandatory contrail avoidance within relevant territories. Alongside these policy developments, SATAVIA has patented a new methodology to generate future voluntary carbon credits from contrail management and provide financing for contrail management in advance of regulation. The method is currently undergoing design certification with Gold Standard, following concept approval in August 2023, and – once approved – will help to scale contrail management across commercial aviation.

Dr Adam Durant, who founded SATAVIA in 2013, said “This new voluntary carbon market will be worth billions of dollars globally, creating a bottom-line rationale for operators to cut their non-CO2 climate footprint in the absence of regulation. As a low-cost, easy-to-implement software solution, contrail management can help move aviation towards climate-neutral operation on near-term timescales. UKSA and ESA support for action on contrails is driving progress in this hard-to-abate industry.”

Looking to the future, SATAVIA aims to build on the success of this ESA BASS project with further R&D activity, including via collaborations with air navigation service providers (ANSPs) to identify challenges and opportunities for scaling contrail management within routine commercial aviation.

 

Italian energy tech company i-EM has successfully completed a Demonstration Project looking at microgrid management and focusing on two communities in India. The MOWGLI project, carried out under ESA’s Business Applications and Space Solutions programme and supported by Customized Energy Solutions India Pvt Ltd (CES), assesses the technical and economic viability of satellite-based services to support and improve the different phases of a microgrid project.  It builds on an earlier Feasibility Study which was supported by India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA).

Microgrids are intelligent self-contained and independent energy systems which serve a defined local area and can operate away from centralised grids. Taking power from renewable sources such as wind turbines, solar power, or mini-hydro systems, they can also store energy. The MOWGLI project offers two main services which draw on a range of satellite asset-based information combined with artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics to develop digitised systems for rural microgrid services aimed at managing the whole energy ecosystem. 

MOWGLI TAILOR uses Earth observation imagery to optimise the sizing and design phases of microgrid facilities. By taking into account the local availability of energy sources and collecting and analysing this data in real-time, the system is able to offer renewable energy assessments and estimate consumption needs which inform the sustainability, scalability and stability of microgrids at the early design stages.  Once the microgrid is operational, MOWGLI MANAGER uses real-time monitoring to forecast generation and consumption levels and record grid activities. The data analytics also allow managers to pick up possible component faults early which can then be quickly remedied to extend their lifespan and save time and money. 

“We are very pleased to have been involved in this project, which not only has the potential to improve the lives and opportunities for people in rural communities but also offers the sustainable distribution of green energy in these communities going forward” said Cristiano Cialone who led the project for ESA.

“Having been able to develop services that foster energy awareness among operators and especially Indian local communities, as well as making our technology and knowledge available for the energy transition is a source of pride for us’’ said Ciro Lanzetta, CEO at i-EM. “Ultimately, our solutions are often seen as 'just' a dashboard, an interactive dashboard, but they are actually a vehicle to convey a change of culture on the use of data, even in a complex context such as MOWGLI.”

The project’s digitised approach to microgrid sizing, design and maintenance brings multiple benefits to communities in developing countries. Not only does it give rural communities access to stable energy supplies, but as a consequence facilitates improved health and education opportunities using satellite technology. By effectively exploiting a range of satellite asset-based information, i-EM has developed a system which has demonstrated significant time, cost and energy savings across the microgrid life cycle, from planning and implementation to operations and maintenance. As well as reducing design hours by 50-70% compared to conventional microgrid design processes, by using space technologies and data, the project found that efficient energy use meant that operating costs could also be reduced by up to 15%.

Commenting on the MOWGLI Project. Nitin Akhade from CES said “we are very happy to have collaborated with i-EM and ESA on the MOWGLI project, hoping to facilitate Indian rural electrification by means of sophisticated software and hardware platform and interactive dashboard for microgrids planning and installations, its periodic maintenance and to promote energy awareness among local communities for optimal use of renewable energy sources.”

The company currently has more than 800 renewable plants in 20 nations across five continents and is working with partners to expand its services.

Pilots and flight operators are benefitting from a new service which combines a variety of space data assets to help them avoid adverse weather conditions. Following a successful ESA Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) Demonstration Project, Dutch deep-tech startup Meandair provides meteorological data to support safer flying via an API to flight application developers, and its own standalone applications for mobile devices.

Ensuring the safety of flights when weather conditions are constantly changing is a major challenge for the aviation industry. Safe flight routes need to be planned prior to take-off, after which pilots need to remain constantly aware of any meteorological changes that may affect them as they travel towards their destination. The priority is to be able to navigate around storms or highly convective clouds and avoid landing in heavy rain or icy conditions, and for pilots to be able to make timely decisions about changing their routes if weather conditions worsen.

Having identified an opportunity to address this by using a combination of space services, Meandair undertook an ESA Feasibility Study under the BASS programme in 2018-2019 to explore the viability of a weather nowcasting service for aviation. This was followed by a successful Demonstration Project, also supported by BASS, and in collaboration with Science and Technology and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), that has resulted in a commercially successful data provisioning service, with thousands of unique downloads of  the company’s own technology demonstrator mobile application. This has been followed by the development and launch of a virtual airport weather station and a multi-year agreement to provide weather data for leading European general aviation app SkyDemon’s VFR Flyable Conditions feature.

Meandair’s service provides information that can be used by pilots, flight planning personnel and aviation enthusiasts, as well as airports for flight preparation, throughout a flight for flight tracking or even to provide weather-related situational awareness outside the aviation domain. It uses three space assets: satellite communications, positioning information from global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) and Earth observation weather data. GNSS provides the most precise up-to-date position of any plane in flight, allowing this to be matched against the accurate space-time atmospheric model produced by Meandair by aggregating a range of weather information and forecasts, including meteorological satellites. Using satellite data maximises the possible communications coverage at all flight levels. Meandair’s upstream suppliers include the operators of meteorological satellites and national weather institutes and their affiliated organisations, as well as R&D partners providing algorithmic nowcasting scientific expertise. 

 “Combining the latest near-real-time observations from Earth observations allows us to produce the most accurate and updated nowcasts. This proves essential for timely (operational) decision-making. The aviation domain was definitely the best testing-ground for us in developing this technology. With moving airplanes, rapidly evolving weather and the weather affecting all aspects of operations, this technology would only be used if it met the highest quality standards. We are immensely proud that our weather data now has over 100,000 users world-wide”, says Peter Novák, Managing Director of Meandair B.V.

The Demonstration Project started in February 2020, since which time the service has passed both Factory and Site Acceptance Tests. A test flight took place between airports in Rotterdam/The Hague and Valenciennes, France, to verify the readiness of the solution. A range of user trials were also organised between 2019 and 2022, including with ANWB Medical Air Assistance HEMS helicopter pilots whose low-altitude flight missions mean that weather forecasts are particularly important in their planning.

”The ability of space technologies to optimise flight preparation and flight execution and therefore increase flight safety for both general aviation and commercial aviation pilots is truly remarkable. Holding a commercial pilot licence myself, I had the opportunity to try this solution inflight and was really impressed by the benefits it brought” says Arnaud Runge, who led the project for ESA. “In addition, knowledge of weather evolution is a very interesting asset with the potential to make aviation greener by optimising routing to reduce fuel consumption.”

Meandair’s product offering is global, although the focus is primarily on Europe and North America, with thirteen weather products now available within an ever-growing data catalogue. The company now also supplies its products to a range of clients globally, has partnered with US premier provider of connectivity in aviation SmartSky Networks to bring Meandair’s data directly in front of pilots during operation, and has launched its own service AirportWeather.com. Meandair has recently started to supply its weather data outside the aviation domain, serving the renewable energy and live-sports sectors. 

UK satellite and Earth observation specialist Earth-i has successfully delivered an operational system which provides up-to-date information on global supply chains for metals and minerals. The Global Activity Indices from Space (GAINS) project, developed under ESA’s Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) programme, focuses on two key areas - global steel smelting operations and movements of iron ore for steel production - and has already gained its first customers, underscoring the sector’s appetite for such a system.

Earth-i’s GAINS service monitors and tracks activity at numerous globally distributed industrial sites to provide high-frequency indicators of activity in complex supply chains, with a focus on sites producing tradeable goods and high-value commodities. Two products were developed as part of the project: a steel smelter activity monitoring service that covers over 95% of known global steel production, and an iron ore stockpiles product focusing on Chinese ports. 

Recognising that ground sources can be unreliable and patchy, GAINS uses a mix of very-high, high, medium and low resolution Earth observation data to deliver data-agnostic geospatial insights in a format that is easy for non-technologists to understand and use. The two initial products use different automated methods to process the data, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, spectroscopic analysis and volumetric calculations.

The steel smelter product offers daily monitoring and a continuous dataset dating back to 2016, enabling users to aggregate data by company, country or region, or have custom filters, with options to compare production between different countries or regions. Globally, there are over 1200 sites related to steel production, of which around 800 are operational.

Francesco Feliciani, Head of the Company Led Projects Division at ESA, said “We are pleased to have supported Earth-i in the development of this service which has been well-received by industry, having already been adopted by targeted customers.” 

Target markets for GAINS include traders, asset owners, market research companies and regulators. GAINS can provide data down to individual asset performance level or aggregated up to a macro-economic level, depending on the requirements of each trader. Meanwhile, market regulators can use the data to better understand market movements and validate information being reported by industrial operators.

Earth-i launched the live operational GAINS service in May 2023 on a subscription basis. It currently uses optical satellite data of different resolutions from multiple operators, but will later expand to include radar and thermal imaging data, with the programme designed to accommodate other satellite and remote-sensing sources as well as new open source datasets. 

Charles Davis, CEO at Earth-i commented “The GAINS service demonstrates the power and scalability of fusing Earth Observation (EO) data and AI to be able to monitor, process and analyse over 1,000 sites dispersed around the globe on a daily basis to a high level of accuracy, and at a low cost. At a time that supply chains are becoming more opaque and more complex, GAINS provides the near-real time transparency our customers require to gain a competitive advantage by being able to validate data 30-90 days ahead of their competition. Earth-i is grateful to ESA and the UK Space Agency for their support to the GAINS project.”

The scalable architecture developed and demonstrated under the BASS project will enable Earth-i to add more product lines in future, such as lead, zinc and other commodities, and extend coverage along entire production chains in specific industries. With scrap steel smelting set to become a major focus in the steel industry, the company is also looking at a scrap steel stockpile monitoring product; the European Union has set a target of 40% of capacity to adopt this approach by 2032. With a transition to electric smelters predicted to result in 80-95% reduction in emissions, Earth-i also has plans to monitor and forecast the pollution caused by steel smelting, to support regulators and authorities to improve the environmental impact of the industry.

Italy boasts some of the most beautiful ancient artefacts in the world but managing open access to these unique heritage sites while preserving their integrity is an ongoing challenge. The VADUS (Virtual Access and Digitisation for Unreachable Sites) project, led by Italian strategic technology company NEXT Ingegneria dei Sistemi and supported by ESA’s Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) programme within the 5G/6G Strategic Programme Line, combines new 5G technologies, Galileo High Accuracy Service (HAS) and Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) technologies to address these challenges. 

VADUS uses 3D colour scanning and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) which allows them to capture high-resolution 3D models. These models are used to create virtual environments which can then be explored via mobile apps or wearable VR devices. However, seamless AV/VR experiences are only possible thanks to 5G technologies and HAS satellite services.

At a time when local economies can subsist on tourism for income but must balance the impact from tourists, AR/VR technologies offer a solution. There may also be historical locations or information not open to the public due to their fragility or lack of accessibility. In these cases, AR/VR can enrich the cultural experience at museums, archaeologic sites, and other heritage monuments by providing access to these sites.  

Despite the potential for these media technologies to make sites accessible and provide tourists with new experiences, certain technical requirements such as bandwidth or connection limitations limit the scope of these applications. Previously, AR/VR experiences were limited to a static position due to the technological restraints of mobile devices or VR headsets. In many cases, this led to an underwhelming or poor experience for the user. However, the VADUS application allows users a tailored AR/VR experience where the can move freely around the virtual world.

“VADUS will act as a technological enabler, to overcome the difficulties related to access for environmental reasons, like the preservation of the asset, due to architectural barriers or related to the 'fruition' of a cultural asset” says Valeria Spizzichino, an ENEA researcher at the Diagnostics and Metrology Laboratory. 

The VADUS team demonstrated the app’s potential at four historical sites in Italy: Casa di Diana (House of Diana), Fortezza del Pastiss (Pastiss Fortress), Aula Isiaca (Isiac Hall) and Casa dei Grifi (House of Griffins). Not only were users able to traverse the virtual world freely via 5G tablets at many of the demonstration sites, additional media and insights were provided thanks to LIF, which allowed artefacts which have been damaged or destroyed to be reconstructed virtually.

“I am extremely pleased with the final results of the VADUS project” says Davide Coppola, Head of ESA’s Space Applications Initiatives Section. “ESA’s support in this endeavour will not only allow the public virtual access to previously unseen sites but bring awareness and preserve important cultural heritage sites in Italy and beyond.“

VADUS is looking to build on the successful trials in Italy and provide tailored apps, tours, and experiences to museums, cultural institutions, local communities, and archaeological parks in the future. 
 

The European Space Agency (ESA) officially launched its Maritime Sustainability Task Force at EUROMARITIME in Marseille last week, where several members of the new collaboration joined ESA representatives at the event. Initiated by ESA’s Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) programme, the new Task Force will see ESA working together with a number of major players in the sector, including shipping companies, maritime authorities, classification societies, and industry associations. Together they will work to leverage on space solutions to reduce the environmental impact of the maritime sector.

The global maritime industry is responsible for 95% of global trade by volume and is undergoing a paradigm shift as it seeks to mitigate its impact on the environment. The transformation, driven by economic, social, and regulatory pressures, will be a decades-long effort but has the potential to revolutionise the impact that the maritime industry has on the environment. 

Space is poised to play a vital role in this transformation, having the global coverage to connect the oceans, and the capability to generate actionable information which will underpin the green transition of the maritime sector. Supported by its Member States and partners across Europe, ESA has initiated the Maritime Sustainability Task Force as a means of identifying and agreeing on short- and long-term priority areas and fostering the adoption of space-based solutions on a wide scale, thus maximising their impact. This will include initiatives that will alleviate the impact of greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, and the spread of non-indigenous species.

Speaking at the launch in Marseille, Nick Appleyard, Head of Applications and Solutions at ESA, said “We are delighted to launch the Maritime Sustainability Task Force today, marking the culmination of many months of work and the start of an important move forward in reducing the environmental impact of the maritime sector.”

The Task Force comprises representatives from across the maritime sector and continues to expand. The founding members comprise maritime authorities, including the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), classification societies, such as Norwegian-based DNV who are independent experts in assurance and risk management, major container shipping lines, represented by the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and leading Ro-Ro ship owners and operators such as Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Grimaldi Euromed SpA. The Task Force also includes shipyards, represented by Damen Shipyards Group, foundations including the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Centre for Zero Carbon Shipping, industry associations, such as the International Windship Association and the One Sea Association and maritime clusters, including TMA BlueTech and the Ocean Autonomy Cluster.

The Maritime Sustainability Task Force is the third such initiative to be launched by ESA in the past twelve months, joining the Task Force for Innovation in Energy through Space and the Smart Cities Task Force which were launched in 2023 and form part of the ESA BASS strategy to generate significant green, social and economic impacts on Earth.

Task Force Members:

• Damen Shipyards Group
• DNV
• European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA)
• Grimaldi Euromed SpA
• International Windship Association (IWSA)
• Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping
• MSC - Mediterranean shipping company
• Ocean Autonomy Cluster
• One Sea Association
• TMA BlueTech 
• Wallenius Wilhelmsen

6 March 2024, ESA ECSAT, Harwell, UK

10:00 - 17:00 GMT

This in-person event, organised by the European Space Agency (ESA), UK Space Agency (UKSA), and Plug and Play, will put the spotlight on novel space applications in the robotics, electromobility and smart cities spaces that not only shape and transform industries, but will revolutionise the way we live.

Overview

Space innovation is driving industry across multiple sectors to improve life on Earth, with electromobility and robotics technologies set to transform life in the smart cities of the future.

Secure your spot to network with thought leaders, startups, corporate organisations, and top innovators in the space ecosystem. Engage in innovation walks and panel discussions to gain valuable insights into the latest advancements and learn about the funding opportunities from ESA and UKSA that can drive your projects forward.

The event is free to attend but places are limited so please register using the button below.

Who should attend?

You should attend this event if you have an interest in electric vehicles, robotics, electrification infrastructure, rural areas, highways, electric grid resilience, grid augmentation, electric vehicle uptake, autonomous delivery, transportation and logistics, smart cities and infrastructure planning, energy and utilities, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, drones and more besides.

Agenda

    Registrations for this event are now closed.            

Tuesday 13 February 2024,  9.00 - 18.00 CET,  ESTEC, Noordwijk, the Netherlands

The "Space for Blue" event will explore the possibilities that lie at the intersection of the space and maritime sectors.

The event will bring together key stakeholders from the maritime sector and beyond to discuss the challenges across three key areas:
•    Maritime Safety and Security
•    Maritime sustainability
•    Blue Economy

This event will bring together users and service providers to discuss how challenges in the three subject areas can be tackled effectively using space-based solutions.

Background

The maritime sector plays a key role in the global economy, serving as a lifeline for international trade, transportation, energy production, and as vital source of food. Shipping remains the most cost-effective and efficient mode of transporting goods across long distances. Roughly 95% of global trade by volume is carried out via maritime routes, making ports and shipping lanes essential components of the global supply chain. The fisheries and aquaculture sector also plays a vital role in providing food for millions of people worldwide, especially in coastal regions and developing countries where seafood often constitutes a primary source of animal protein. Oceans also harbour immense quantities of energy. 

However, the industry is under increasing pressure to reduce its environmental impact. Issues such as air and water pollution pose significant challenges. Stricter regulations and demands for cleaner, more sustainable practices are driving the industry to adopt greener technologies and practices. Moreover, geopolitical issues surrounding illegal maritime migration, border security, smuggling and piracy are fast becoming a high priority for many governments. As a result of these challenges, space-based services are becoming common practice within the industry as they are able to address the requirements of the sector in a ubiquitous, timely, and cost-effective manner. 

What will the day involve?

The day will feature a number of expert speakers for each focus areas, with lunch and networking opportunities included.

Who should attend?

Maritime sector stakeholders including maritime industry, authorities and solution providers, especially those interested in innovative digital solutions,  and space technology providers engaged in the maritime sector.

The event is free to attend but spaces are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

How do I get there?

How to Get to ESTEC

Agenda

Please register your interest using the button below. 

Register your interest