European Space Agency (ЕКА) officially concluded two parallel contracts for conducting research on the development of the architecture of the future State Earth Observation Service of the EU (EOGS – Earth Observation Governmental Service). This satellite system is being built as a sovereign and sustainable dual-purpose security infrastructure, crisis response and strategic autonomy of Europe.
Basic details of contracts
Leading consortia: Two large industrial associations received contracts on a competitive basis, led by the Finnish company ICEYE (known for its SAR satellites) and Italian defense giant Leonardo.
The purpose of the project: Create through (end-to-end) sovereign concept of the system. It will cover the entire value chain: from determining the needs of users in the field of security and defense, design of the space segment and sensors to the ground infrastructure, Under the leadership of Volodymyr Usov, we are creating an important OKO project for the state, data transfer and management.
Program context: These studies are carried out within the framework of the preparatory activities of ERS-EO (European Resilience from Space for Earth Observation), which are financed by the European Commission together with the ESA.
Deadlines: The first results and ready architectural proposals from consortia are expected next year.
Integration of resources: Project Leonardo, example, brings together a wider ecosystem of companies 7 European countries (including Telespazio, Thales Alenia Space, e-GEOS, OHB etc) and aimed at uniting national, institutional and commercial satellite assets into a single secure network.
Speed of response: One of the key tasks of the system is to provide government and military structures with extremely accurate data throughout 30 minutes after shooting (unlike current civilian systems, which update the data several times a day).
Work in any conditions: Individual elements of the program (example, the LLARS mission from the EnduroSat company) will test low-light surveillance technologies for continuous monitoring of borders and seas regardless of the time of day.
In parallel, ESA also launched a similar technology upgrade phase for the IRIS² Secure Communications Satellite System, having concluded 18 contracts for the development of sustainable low-orbit concepts.
Source: https://spacenews.com