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Space has become one of the most exciting ecosystems to generate revenue. Yet, when most people hear the term "space business" the first thing that pops into their head is a rocket blasting off of a launch pad and a control room. 

"And yes, part of space business is about sending rovers to Mars and putting satellites in orbit but there is so much more that space technology can offer." explains Fiammetta Diani, head at EUSPA Market, Downstream & Innovation Department. "Thanks to the large amount of Earth Observation, satellite navigation and satcom data offered by satellites we can develop myriads of applications to serve millions of users down on Earth," she adds.  

A "downstream space entrepreneur" can be anyone from any sector that is looking into space data to innovate and add value to their or someone else’s business model. It could be a startup monitoring the environmental impact of tourism using Earth Observation data or a drone operator integrating secured satellite navigation services to deliver first aid products. 

According to Diani, space downstream entrepreneurs are able to find solutions to problems that have not been solved before and reap the rewards associated by being early movers. 

Now, one can wonder: How? And with what cost?  

Commercialising space technology with CASSINI Challenges 

EUSPA has an answer to that, and it’s now called CASSINI Challenges!

The Cassini Challenge (formerly known as #myeuspace competition) is the one stop shop for both experienced and inexperienced innovators who want to break into the space industry. It is a competition which tasks innovators with developing cutting-edge solutions to solve some of today’s most pressing societal issues using satellite data/services from Galileo and Copernicus. The reward? A cash prize pool of 1,000,000 euros to take their solution to the next level.

The competition consists of three thematic challenges and three tracks (based on the maturity of the solution proposed) encourage even more innovators to participate: 

• Next Generation Challenge: applicants are asked to leverage Galileo and Copernicus data to craft value adding solutions to improve the well-being, safety, security and connectivity of EU citizens.
• Sustainable Future Challenge: participants are tasked with developing innovative solutions for the conservation of ecosystems, sustainable agriculture and management of energy and resources.
• Emerging Technologies Challenge: innovators must develop disruptive solutions combining EU space data with deep technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Quantum technologies (quantum computing, sensing, simulation, encryption, etc.), Blockchain technology and Extended Reality or the Metaverse (Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), Virtual Reality (VR).

Throughout the competition, EUSPA Market Development professionals will offer guidance to participants through dedicated webinars. Participants will also have access to a wealth of tools and publications of space intelligence generated by EUSPA such as the EUSPA EO and GNSS Marker Report and the EU Space For Green Transformation report, among others. 

The Cassini Challenges are open to teams from the EU27 plus Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).

Space has become one of the most exciting ecosystems to generate revenue. Yet, when most people hear the term "space business" the first thing that pops into their head is a rocket blasting off of a launch pad and a control room. 

"And yes, part of space business is about sending rovers to Mars and putting satellites in orbit but there so much more than space technology can offer." explains Fiammetta Diani, head at EUSPA Market, Downstream & Innovation Department. "Thanks to the large amount of Earth Observation, satellite navigation and satcom data offered by satellites we can develop myriads of applications to serve millions of users down on Earth," she adds.  

A "downstream space entrepreneur" can be anyone from any sector that is looking into space data to innovate and add value to their or someone else’s business model. It could be a startup monitoring the environmental impact of tourism using Earth Observation data or a drone operator integrating secured satellite navigation services to deliver first aid products. 

According to Diani, space downstream entrepreneurs are able to find solutions to problems that have not been solved before and reap the rewards associated by being early movers. 

Now, one can wonder: How? And with what cost?  

Commercialising space technology with CASSINI Challenges 

EUSPA has an answer to that, and it’s now called CASSINI Challenges!

The Cassini Challenge (formerly known as #myeuspace competition) is the one stop shop for both experienced and inexperienced innovators who want to break into the space industry. It is a competition which tasks innovators with developing cutting-edge solutions to solve some of today’s most pressing societal issues using satellite data/services from Galileo and Copernicus. The reward? A cash prize pool of 1,000,000 euros to take their solution to the next level.

The competition consists of three thematic challenges and three tracks (based on the maturity of the solution proposed) encourage even more innovators to participate: 

• Next Generation Challenge: applicants are asked to leverage Galileo and Copernicus data to craft value adding solutions to improve the well-being, safety, security and connectivity of EU citizens.
• Sustainable Future Challenge: participants are tasked with developing innovative solutions for the conservation of ecosystems, sustainable agriculture and management of energy and resources.
• Emerging Technologies Challenge: innovators must develop disruptive solutions combining EU space data with deep technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Quantum technologies (quantum computing, sensing, simulation, encryption, etc.), Blockchain technology and Extended Reality or the Metaverse (Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), Virtual Reality (VR).

Throughout the competition, EUSPA Market Development professionals will offer guidance to participants through dedicated webinars. Participants will also have access to a wealth of tools and publications of space intelligence generated by EUSPA such as the EUSPA EO and GNSS Marker Report and the EU Space For Green Transformation report, among others. 

The Cassini Challenges are open to teams from the EU27 plus Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).

Organised by the EU Agency for the Space Programme and the European Commission, under the auspices of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the EU Space Week 2023 is taking place in Sevilla from the 7th to 9th of November. The top European Union space conference is a unique opportunity to get an up-close look at how European businesses – and society in general – benefit from the EU Space Programme. 

"The EU Space Week is the hallmark of the European space sector, bringing together top policy and decision makers across the EU, scientists, space industry experts and entrepreneurs from all walks of life. It’s a platform where actors involved or interested in the EU Space Programme can share knowledge, experiences and reflect on how we can improve the services currently offered by Galileo, EGNOS, Copernicus and GOVSATCOM/IRIS2. I am excited to announce that the registrations for the EU Space Week 2023 are officially open as of today! I look forward to welcoming you all in Sevilla" remarked EUSPA Executive Director Rodrigo da Costa. 

REGISTER HERE

What to expect? 

While more details will be revealed in the coming weeks, here’s a sneak peek of what awaits you:  

• Keynote speeches by Diana Morant, Minister of Science and Innovation and Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Market  
• New and insightful sessions including sessions on Space Traffic Management and Space Security
• New ways to do space and innovate 
• Live demonstrations of applications powered by the EU Space Programme 
• Social events and networking opportunities 

Latitude: 37.40347465 Longitude: -5.93310621

The EU Space Week will be hosted at the Fibes Conference and Exhibition centre, just two kilometres from the picturesque city of Sevilla. 

To find your way to the conference centre use your Galileo-enabled, mobile phone or wearable.

Can’t make it to Sevilla? No worries, we will be livestreaming the event.

The EU Space Week is jointly organised by the European Commission and the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) and held under the auspices of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of European Union.  

Make sure you follow  EUSPA (@EU4Space), DG DEFIS (@DEFIS_eu), and the Spanish Presidency (@eu2023es) on Twitter for updates. 

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).

Space plays a crucial role in EU strategic autonomy, economy, citizens’ welfare, security and defence, scientific development and other vital areas. Considering the Union’s increasing reliance on space data and services, safeguarding the security of space systems and the communication and information networks they rely upon is of utmost importance.

On March 2023, the European Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton and the High Representative, Josep Borrel presented in March 2023 the first-ever EU Space Strategy for Security and Defence. The strategy is a direct implementation of the EU Strategic Compass adopted less than a year ago and which defined space, together with cyber and maritime, as contested strategic domains, the security of which must be ensured. 

The strategy foresees -among others- the creation of a Sharing and Analysis Centre (EU Space ISAC) to raise awareness and facilitate the exchange of best practices among commercial and relevant public entities on resilience measures for space capabilities.

Increasing EUSPA’s security responsibilities 

EUSPA has a large portfolio to deliver on, which includes the security of the EU Space Programme and its components in space and on the ground. The agency guarantees that Europe’s positioning systems, Galileo and EGNOS emit secure signals and that their respective ground infrastructures (sensors, antennas, stations) remain intact. It does so by performing risk and threat analysis and monitoring the compliance to the general security requirements of the space components.

Moreover, EUSPA provides security expertise to other components of the Space Programme, such as GOVSATCOM and the Space Situational Awareness. 

As of June 2023, the agency also manages the EU Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) Front Desk. Highly qualified EUSPA staff interfaces with spacecraft owners and operators, EU institutions and EU Member States and supports them in using the web portal and the services SST offers.

Read this: EUSPA grows further to support EU Space Traffic Management

“Working towards the establishment of the EU space ISAC is an important task for our agency, and we are proud to work with the European Commission on this’’ says EUSPA Executive Director Rodrigo da Costa. “Given our excellence in managing the operational security of Galileo and our new role in the EU SST, we are excited to be able to share our knowledge with interested stakeholders and contribute to a safer and more secure EU space.’’ he concludes.

So, what is the EU space Sharing and Analysis Centre?

The EU Space ISAC will be membership-driven organisation, engaging industry, public sector institutions and academia. The main objective of it is to contribute to the security and resilience of space systems and their supply chain.

It will serve as the primary communication channel for the space sector with regard to security related information and sharing of best practices, and will provide relevant knowledge, services and resources to enable participants to prevent, tackle and mitigate security challenges to the space sector more effectively and efficiently. 

The centre will be composed of “Members'”, which can include Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), startups and academia. It will also include the so called “Public partners,’’ i.e., legal public entities of relevance for the EU Space sector and which are directly or indirectly contributing to the activity and regulation of ISAC.

Why Participate?

• Stay Informed: engage in information sharing about security related information, incidents*, cyber trends, vulnerabilities, and threats.

• Stay Ahead: benefit from early warning systems, getting timely alerts on security threats, enabling swift responses.

• Develop Together: enhance collective cybersecurity resilience through knowledge sharing, best practices, and expertise pooling.

• Access Expertise: engage with cybersecurity experts, public sector agencies, and other stakeholders for guidance and support.

• Network: build connections with industry peers and public partners, fostering collaborative solutions to common challenges.

Analytical information can be found here.

We encourage applicants to read carefully the call before submitting. 

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).

GNSS is a critical technology used in maritime navigation systems. It enables vessels to determine their position, speed and time by receiving signals from satellites. Unfortunately, malicious actors can rather easily spoof these signals to provide unreliable or even fake positioning information. 

Such false information can cause a ship to change course, which is exactly what happened to ATRIA, a 37,500-ton tanker, in 2017. The ship’s captain thought he was near Gelendzhik Airport – at least that’s where the ship’s GNSS coordinates told him. In reality, it was positioned just off the port of Novorossiysk, about 20 nautical miles (37 kilometres) from the airport. ATRIA was by no means alone, at least 20 other nearby and equally unaware ships were in the same location. 

Not only can spoofing lead to accidents and other safety hazards, it also opens the door to potential threats to national security. In 2019, Iran seized a UK-flagged oil tanker located in the Strait of Hormuz on the grounds that it had violated international law. After careful analysis of the ship’s positioning data, it was confirmed that spoofing was involved.    

Protection by detection 

These are by no means isolated incidents. Spoofing attacks happen all the time and around the world. In an increasingly sophisticated landscape of aggression, they’ll likely happen more often and be even more complex. 

Without proper countermeasure methods, spoofing attacks will continue to pose a serious threat to maritime safety. The challenge is that in order to mitigate a spoofing attack, a ship first needs to be aware of the attack.

Enter ASGARD, the ultimate anti-spoofing weapon for maritime security.

Co-funded by EUSPA and coordinated by Saab and GMV, the ASGARD project is developing cutting-edge technology to counter ongoing GNSS spoofing activities. “ASGARD functions using a protection by detection strategy,” says Ana Cezón, who heads the Advance Navigation Division at GMV. “It is designed to detect and prevent GNSS spoofing attacks in real environment, ensuring that ships can navigate safely and securely.” 

GMV and Saab are two leading companies with a long-standing reputation in the field of maritime communication and navigation.

Leveraging the Galileo OSNMA service

At the heart of this protection by detection strategy is a multi-constellation, anti-spoofing GNSS receiver that leverages the Galileo Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA) service to authenticate the navigation message. The free access service complements the Galileo Open Service (OS) by delivering authenticated data, assuring users that the received Galileo navigation message is coming from the system itself and has not been modified.

Thanks to its use of the OSNMA service, Galileo satellites can send a key and digital signature that the ASGARD receiver uses to verify the authenticity of the signal via its own public key. If the receiver detects a signal that cannot be authenticated, it immediately alerts the operator of a potential spoofing attack and prompts them to take alternative measures to validate the vessel’s position. 

The system also offers an innovative integrity solution that ensures the reliability and safety of the system. 

Ensuring the safety and security of crew and cargo 

Still in development, ASGARD will soon undergo real-time testing where it will be put through a series of spoofing attacks to ensure it delivers within set specifications. Once complete, the system is expected to have a significant impact on the maritime industry, improving safety and security for both vessels and crews.

“ASGARD will provide an effective response to spoofing attacks by ensuring that vessels stay on course and are not lured off by attackers,” says Peter Bergljung, Head of Strategy at Saab. “With ASGARD, vessel owners and operators can have peace of mind knowing that their vessels are equipped with cutting-edge technology that provides protection against spoofing attacks and helps ensure the safety and security of the crew and cargo.”

Once certified according to maritime safety regulations (SOLAS) and maritime standards (IEC), ASGARD is also expected to boost the uptake of Galileo within the maritime sector.

Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the EUSPA website (http://www.euspa.europa.eu).