The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Coast Guard (ITCG) have today signed a Memorandum of Intent (MoI) with the objective to cooperate on the utilisation of space applications to support maritime systems and services. The agreement was signed today by Commander General Admiral Chief Inspector Nicola Carlone of the ITCG and Elodie Viau, ESA Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications (TIA).

The ITCG is mandated by the Italian Government to develop and implement national and international regulations and standards for ensuring the appropriate level of safety in vessel operations for protection of human life at sea and marine environment. This includes maritime safety, maritime vessel traffic management, ship, and port security; maritime monitoring and surveillance; maritime search and rescue and maritime assistance service.

The MoI with ITCG has been signed after several months of continuous conversations with representatives and it is an important milestone for the collaboration between both entities. From the experimentation of advanced digital technology systems in maritime scenarios and in ports, to the advanced use of satellite image processing with artificial intelligence technologies for object recognition, to the use of satellite navigation and 5G communication networks, the agreement defines the areas of collaboration for the experimentation of space applications in the maritime sector.

Cooperation between the two entities will enable long-term sustainable socio-economic development, the improvement of the safety of navigation, the decarbonisation of the shipping sector, encouraging the creation of sustainable infrastructure and helping to mitigate polluting emissions.

"Using innovative technologies and applications is essential to rethink the maritime sector, reduce the environmental impact and ensure an adequate level of safety in ship operations for the protection of human life at sea and of Marine environment,” said Admiral Carlone. “These are issues on which the Port Authority Corps has already been involved for years and which will be at the center of the digital transition already underway."

"Space applications offer a unique opportunity to support maritime systems and services while enabling long-term sustainable socio-economic development,” said Dr Viau. “For this reason, our agreement with the General Command is important, which aims to use space applications to promote sustainable innovative connectivity in the maritime sector, safety and monitoring of maritime transport and ports.”

To achieve these results, the General Command and the European Space Agency will undertake to share knowledge, ideas and experiences, jointly planning and managing activities in these sectors. These activities could be seeds for the ESA accelerators, particularly the Rapid and Resilient Crisis Response (R3) for the activities related to maritime safety and security, and Space for a Green Future (S4GF) for the activities related to maritime sustainability and decarbonisation of maritime transport.

This story is part of our story series: Meet the Ambassador. In this series, we introduce you to the great teams across our Network that are using space to develop business applied in daily life. Curious about their highlights and advice? Read on.

1.    WHO IS THE ESA BUSINESS APPLICATIONS AMBASSADOR IN AUSTRIA?

Science Park Graz hosts the ESA Business Applications Ambassador Platform in Austria, providing companies and communities powerful tools to fully exploit space assets for the benefit of the economy and everyday life. At the heart of these activities, the Ambassador promotes the utilisation of space-based products and services such as Earth observation data, satellite navigation, telecommunication services and technologies derived from human spaceflight for innovative applications in terrestrial applications and services.

2.    TELL US ABOUT THE PEOPLE IN YOUR TEAM

Martin Mössler is the Managing Director of Science Park Graz and General Manager of the ESA Space Solutions Centre in Austria, the umbrella initiative that hosts ESA Business Applications. Martin has been ESA’s Ambassador for Business Applications in Austria since 2016 and is passionate about technology, internationalisation and, of course, space. Martin’s network spans across large parts of Austria, Europe and beyond, contributing to vast activities in South-Eastern Europe.

Inês Plácido is ESA’s Ambassador for Business Applications in Austria and is the go-to-person for funding and support opportunities for entrepreneurs and SMEs using space technology and data. Inês additionally supports innovators in their growth and impact in the world by connecting people and exploring synergies between programmes and networks.

Simone Carli runs the ESA Spark Funding Austria call which is part of the ESA Business Applications activities in Austria. Simone also manages the participation of Science Park Graz in international projects, connecting innovation ecosystems and facilitating cross-border collaborations of space start-ups.

The diversity of our nationalities and the complementarity of our profiles are the magic ingredients to our professional, highly achievement-oriented, and team-based approach to work!

3.    WHAT HAS INSPIRED YOU TO WORK IN THE SPACE INDUSTRY? 

It is the visionary character of all interacting partners who work in the space industry that is most uplifting. Furthermore, the large picture required by space sciences and in the view of our planet from above generates a very special mindset within a person. Finally, our future depends on whether we manage or not to address challenges on Earth. To a large degree, these will be solved through space technology and space sciences as such.

4.    DO YOU HAVE COMPANIES WORKING TO SOLVE BIG WORLD PROBLEMS? 

As a question of principle, we require all the companies we support to contribute to a better and more sustainable planet. The times when business models could be based on the mere exhaustion of resources are about to finish, given the socio-economic and environmental challenges we witness today.

5.    EXAMPLES OF COMPANIES (CURRENT SPARK PROJECTS)

Perigee (Founders: Markus Enenkel, Emanuel Rudas) Using a combination of satellite-based emergency services and social analytics, enhanced with state-of-the-art machine learning, Perigees’s PIPA - Public Interest Prediction Algorithms allow NGOs/NPOs and their fundraisers to inform their whole communication strategy based on predictive data. This allows them to reduce costs for campaigns and optimise workforce capacities.

REFARMO (Founder: Tomaž Ščavničar) Regenerative Origin is a commercial digital platform by REFARMO to enable the delivery of regenerative farming certification with carbon verification and climate impact standards.

Sentinel Hub (Founder: Grega Milcinski) Sentinel Hub uses time series satellite imagery in the mapping of floodplains to improve accuracy and automatise currently manual and time-consuming tasks, contributing to a more frequent update of these maps.

Aeroficial Intelligence (Founders: Julian Jank, Markus Stadlmair, Johannes Schuster) Using space-based ADS-B and Artificial Intelligence, Aeroficial Intelligence provides airports and air navigation service providers accurate and real time predictions of the gate arrival time for incoming flights to a specific airport. This enables better resource allocation as well as pre-tactical and tactical planning.

6.    WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE FOR ASPIRING ENTREPRENEURS? 

To always be cautious if the solution one is pursuing addresses a real and sizeable problem or opportunity. While being an entrepreneur requires a lot of vision, ideas and stamina, wishful thinking rarely makes companies flourish. Finally, the most important element of a good entrepreneur is to empower a strong team. Powerful teams are as important as strong leadership, as only in this constellation mutual success is possible.

7.    USING ONE WORD, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE ESA SPACE SOLUTIONS COMMUNITY?  

It is not possible to answer in one word, but it is a visionary and empowering community of space enthusiasts, which ranges from businesses professionals to engineers and techies. The role of space is to unite disciplines, nations, and technologies. All mentioned players have their distinct job when it comes to enriching our daily lives through space.

8.    HOW WOULD YOU SOLVE PROBLEMS IF YOU WERE FROM MARS? 

We would take an unbiased meta-view from above and exclude political as well as economic pre-conditions for a short moment, to enable us to look at the bottom of problems and find open-minded solutions which centre around humans’ and our planet’s ecosystem.

9.    WHAT IS YOUR WEBSITE LINK WHERE THE READERS CAN FIND MORE ABOUT YOU? 

The activities of the ESA Space Solutions Centre in Austria are published on our website.

 

Globally, over 700 million people, mostly located in the rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, lack access to reliable electricity. The progress in electrification, achieved through the extension of the main grids, is notably slow and capital intensive; alternative off-grid energy generation systems (e.g. microgrid, solar home systems) allow electrification “on the spot” by leveraging the combination of renewable (e.g. solar, wind) and fossil energy sources.  

A major barrier to the electrification process, experienced by Governments and private companies as well as International Funding Institutions, is the lack of information and actionable data, which make it difficult to determine the geographical area, village or communities that could benefit from the investment in off-grid systems. Notoriously, a range of insights are needed to plan and deliver vital infrastructure projects, including key information such the village location, the number of households, the current level of electrifications and the livelihood of local economies.  

Lighting up the world

In this scenario, a project supported by the ESA Business Applications programme, and implemented by the German start-up Village Data Analytics (VIDA), developed software which gathers insight from the targeted area for electrification. The system relies on the use of Artificial Intelligence algorithms which analyse EU Copernicus Sentinel and night-light images, combined with other data sources to determine the presence of settlements, electricity, road infrastructures and water bodies. These data are used to create the ranking of the villages, across the area of interest, which could benefit the most from the investment in off-grid energy systems. 

A window of opportunity has opened for rural areas in developing countries across Africa and Asia

A VIDA prototype has been tested by the pilot users such as KfW Mozambique, Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) in Ethiopia, and the World Bank in Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Lesotho. As remarked by Cristiano Cialone, ESA Business Applications Officer: “The prototype has been engineered following a prominent user-driven approach and validated through the KPIs’ benchmark with the traditional electrification processes. The subsequent performance analysis has evidenced positive macro trends related to: the cost/time reduction, for village ranking, compared to non-space based solutions; the increase of return on investment (ROI) for project of electrification in rural areas; the increase of energy consumption in the newly electrified areas of round 256%; the 80% reduction of CO2 emission thanks to the use of renewable energies for electricity generation”. Since the launch of the platform in February 2021, VIDA has served more than 200 users and projects in more than 15 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The software has contributed to the success of projects worth millions of Euros, and ultimately has provided clean and safe electricity (e.g. UN SDG 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all) for educational hubs or health facilities.

Industry, Users, and Institution played a key role in the success of VIDA

VIDA was initiated through “Space for microgrids in developing countries’, an initiative launched by ESA Space Solutions in cooperation with the India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA), that aims to exploit satellite data to optimise the impact of microgrids electrification projects for rural or ‘off-grid’ communities. 

“We are pleased with the excellent results of the project which confirm the potential for space applications to address sustainable development goals in export markets”, said Davide Coppola, Head of Space Applications Initiatives Section at ESA.

An important role was played by the German Delegation, which recognised the key role of electrification and has provided the necessary funding support. Anke Freimuth, Programme Coordinator of ESA Business Applications at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), said “Electricity is a critical infrastructure for almost all areas of life. The VIDA project, supported by DLR via the ESA Business Applications programme, makes an important contribution to this. With the help of smart grids, access to electricity in developing countries is made easier. We are thrilled to see how the VIDA team delivers excellent results through their high competence and commitment and are impressed on how they make a significant contribution to one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the help of space data.” 

The opportunity created by ESA and DLR has been certainly exploited at its best by the VIDA start-up, which combined competencies, market research, technology and user engagement capabilities to implement the service platform currently in use. Philippe Raisin, Chief Technology Officer of Munich-based VIDA, said: “Development in the world’s most remote areas cannot be achieved without data. A major barrier has been that the people with the money haven’t had the data to identify where they can make the greatest difference to communities. Our platform supports nations to leave no one behind in their journey towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Furthermore, the ESA Business Applications Demonstration project provided the VIDA team with the guidance and support needed to develop, test and roll-out the VIDA platform in a very short time.”

VIDA's success is also related to the involvement of end-users and customer representatives; they have collaborated in the requirement formalisation since the earliest project stages and have lately been involved in the prototype testing. Nowadays, many customers use the platform to serve the purposes of electrification projects around the world, as testified by George Harris, Head of Business Development at PowerGen Renewable Energy, says: “VIDA allows us to significantly cut down the time it takes us to select and plan new mini-grids, allowing us to build more renewable mini-grids faster. VIDA is now being used by most of our country teams across Africa, from initial country scan to detailed system sizing and distribution planning. Any new sites that we are building in the future will involve VIDA's analyses." Other worldwide financial players, affirm: “Working with VIDA has truly strengthened the advisory support we can offer our government clients – our support is now bigger, better and faster. Planning the electrification of a whole country used to take more than two years. With VIDA, this is a matter of months.”

Dr Rita Rinaldo, Head of the Project and Studies Implementation Division at ESA remarked that “VIDA has demonstrated the potential that integrated space solutions can offer to address the needs of the energy sector, and the vital role of ESA in enabling SMEs and NewSpace companies developing innovation to support the green transition in an economically sustainable way”. This method is being adopted as best practice across several businesses and multi-disciplinary domains to support the Industry, to foster economic growth and contribute to sustainable development (e.g. UN SDGs).