CEROC | ESA Space Solutions

Objectives of the service

Have you ever been stuck in traffic?

Water-based transport has been one of the most efficient ways to move people and goods for centuries. By reclaiming waterways through an energy-efficient and cost-effective system, including electric-powered passenger vessels and a shore-side control centre, Remote Operation Centre, we can create virtual bridges that reduce travel time, connect the city districts, generates new travel patterns and make waterfront areas more assessable. The Remote Operation Centre enables monitoring, controlling and supervising multiple vessels across different areas and cities.

With route optimization and on-demand operation capabilities of several vessels offers real-time situational awareness for safe and energy-efficient operations, including automated route planning and docking. Continuous oversight via satellite ensures real-time monitoring and faster incident response, reinforcing trust with regulators and the public. It also dramatically reduces reliance on scarce onboard crew.

This study is to evaluate the operational feasibility and value of supervising multiple autonomous electric ferries from a centralized Remote Operation Centre. The goal is to assess both technical and commercial viability of integrating systems and services into a multi-ship Remote Operation Centre.

Users and their needs

~75% of all European citizens lives in cities and 90% of those cities have waterways available in the city centres. Most of them are undeveloped when it comes to passenger transport. Cstrider’s main customer is European cities, transportation operators and real estate owners/developers - end users are city residents and tourists. Cstrider contributes to accelerate electrification and reduce emission from transportation. Cstrider represents the future of urban passenger transport, offering a flexible and environmentally friendly solution that can be tailored to the unique needs of each city.

For transport operators and cities, the Remote Operation Centre represents a pathway to:

Scale autonomous ship operations across their fleet.
Interface city public transport traffic control 
Enable optimization of multimodal urban mobility and public transport
Enable co-operation with un-automated traffic on inland waterways
Reduce the cost of onboard crew while ensuring high safety standards through supervision.
Enable operations in remote areas where mobile network coverage is limited or inconsistent.
Comply with upcoming regulations requiring oversight of autonomous ships.

Service/ system concept

Our starting point is the Cstrider system design and strategy, which primarily leverages existing hardware and integrates it in a new context with new functionalities and features. Vessel autonomy platform is one of them. Multivessel, real time optimisation transport, energy efficiency and charging. Cstrider’s unique contributions lie in power and energy management, as well as transport optimization, which serve as key enablers for achieving higher energy efficiency and further reduce CO2 operational footprint through our Remote operation Centre capabilities. This is based on Cstrider expedient ship design and complete system optimization. The primary technical challenges for the Remote Operating Centre involve defining communication interfaces, finalizing downstream services, and designing the human-machine interface.

Space Added Value

Our ships feature high levels of automation, supported by a shore-side traffic Remote Operation Centre. Leveraging advanced space technology, such as satellite communication and navigation. It also includes redundant communications, precise positioning, situational awareness through electro-optical sensors and land-based radar. Moreover, it also includes utilisation of sensor fusion to optimize ship fleet and route. We aim to co-develop with partners and suppliers, focusing on the remote supervision layer to enable fleet coordination and optimization for energy and transport efficiency.