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Did you know that of the 300 million tonnes of plastic produced every year, an estimated 26 million eventually ends up in the ocean? As a result, some estimates suggest there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic floating around the oceans and washing up onto beaches and coastal areas. 

There are options to tackle this plastic sea party! Thanks to initiatives like the CASSINI Prize for digital space applications, we now have a range of innovative, space-based solutions ready to detect, monitor and remove plastics, microplastics and other litter from our oceans and waterways.  

“Addressing the ocean's plastic problem starts with identifying and tracking the debris, which is exactly what each of our winning applications is doing, essential information for authorities or NGOs,” says Rodrigo da Costa, Executive Director of the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA). 

CASSINI is the European Commission’s initiative to support entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs developing innovative applications and services that leverage the EU Space Programme. Dedicated to promoting the commercialisation of Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus data and services, EUSPA is actively involved in the initiative.

With a total prize purse of EUR 2.85 million, the Maritime CASSINI Prize for Digital Space Applications sought innovative commercial solutions that leverage Copernicus, Europe’s Earth Observation programme; Galileo, the EU’s Global Navigation Satellite System; and/or EGNOS, the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System – used in combination with other data sources – to track and remove marine plastic pollution.   

Because the contest aimed to create a new ecosystem of entrepreneurs, applications were limited to SMEs having a close-to-market solution. 

After a rigorous review process and a challenging demonstration requirement where applicants had to prove their solution’s effectiveness in real-world conditions, EUSPA and the European Commission announced the winners during the EU Space Week 2023 in Sevilla, Spain.

The winners

• Coastal Marine Litter Observatory by SCIDRONES: Using an innovative combination of Copernicus multi-spectral data with high-resolution drone imagery and advanced AI-algorithms, this application helps differentiate between plastic pollution and natural debris sources such as driftwood and seaweed. Local authorities can use the application to guide their cleanup operations, allocating resources to those beaches and environments most affected by plastic pollution. 
• Eyes on Plastic by EOMAP: This data-driven web app combines Sentinel-2 optical imagery and commercial optical satellite imagery, on-site cameras, cloud-based big data processing chains, Earth Observation analytics and crowdsourcing to identify, map and monitor plastic pollution in near real-time. The solution looks to help governmental stakeholders meet their mandates for managing and reporting plastic pollution, including that found in rivers.  
• Ocean Plastic Alert and Tracking by GEOMATYS Combining satellite images with meteorological and oceanographic models, this application is designed to detect debris at sea from space and predict its drift. By coupling ocean current and wind models with satellite observations, the solution can make forecasts both forwards and backwards in time. This allows coastal authorities to locate and predict where the front of plastic and debris is after a major weather crisis that causes navigational safety issues. It also optimises the collection of debris in collaboration with the likes of fishing boats.

All three winners received a EUR 950,000.00 cash prize, which will be used to further develop, scale up and, ultimately, give the real push for the commercialisation and promotion of their applications.

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).

Did you know that of the 300 million tonnes of plastic produced every year, an estimated 26 million eventually ends up in the ocean? As a result, some estimates suggest there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic floating around the oceans and washing up onto beaches and coastal areas. 

There are options to tackle this plastic sea party! Thanks to initiatives like the CASSINI Prize for digital space applications, we now have a range of innovative, space-based solutions ready to detect, monitor and remove plastics, microplastics and other litter from our oceans and waterways.  

“Addressing the ocean's plastic problem starts with identifying and tracking the debris, which is exactly what each of our winning applications is doing, essential information for authorities or NGOs,” says Rodrigo da Costa, Executive Director of the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA). 

CASSINI is the European Commission’s initiative to support entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs developing innovative applications and services that leverage the EU Space Programme. Dedicated to promoting the commercialisation of Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus data and services, EUSPA is actively involved in the initiative.

With a total prize purse of EUR 2.85 million, the Maritime CASSINI Prize for Digital Space Applications sought innovative commercial solutions that leverage Copernicus, Europe’s Earth Observation programme; Galileo, the EU’s Global Navigation Satellite System; and/or EGNOS, the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System – used in combination with other data sources – to track and remove marine plastic pollution.   

Because the contest aimed to create a new ecosystem of entrepreneurs, applications were limited to SMEs having a close-to-market solution. 

After a rigorous review process and a challenging demonstration requirement where applicants had to prove their solution’s effectiveness in real-world conditions, EUSPA and the European Commission announced the winners during the EU Space Week 2023 in Sevilla, Spain.

The winners

• Coastal Marine Litter Observatory by SCIDRONES: Using an innovative combination of Copernicus multi-spectral data with high-resolution drone imagery and advanced AI-algorithms, this application helps differentiate between plastic pollution and natural debris sources such as driftwood and seaweed. Local authorities can use the application to guide their cleanup operations, allocating resources to those beaches and environments most affected by plastic pollution. Learn more.
• Eyes on Plastic by EOMAP: This data-driven web app combines Sentinel-2 optical imagery and commercial optical satellite imagery, on-site cameras, cloud-based big data processing chains, Earth Observation analytics and crowdsourcing to identify, map and monitor plastic pollution in near real-time. The solution looks to help governmental stakeholders meet their mandates for managing and reporting plastic pollution, including that found in rivers.  Learn more.
• Ocean Plastic Alert and Tracking by GEOMATYS Combining satellite images with meteorological and oceanographic models, this application is designed to detect debris at sea from space and predict its drift. By coupling ocean current and wind models with satellite observations, the solution can make forecasts both forwards and backwards in time. This allows coastal authorities to locate and predict where the front of plastic and debris is after a major weather crisis that causes navigational safety issues. It also optimises the collection of debris in collaboration with the likes of fishing boats. Learn more.

All three winners received a EUR 950,000.00 cash prize, which will be used to further develop, scale up and, ultimately, give the real push for the commercialisation and promotion of their applications.

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).

Top EU policymakers, space industry actors and entrepreneurs from all walks of life convene in Sevilla, Spain to share knowledge and experiences on how businesses, governments, and society at large benefit from the EU Space Programme and its existing components, Galileo, EGNOS, Copernicus but also new ones such as GOVSATCOM and IRIS². 

Key themes in the 2023 edition of the conference are the use of space technology in our quest to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and the importance of satellite services to shield Europe’s security and autonomy.   

Autonomy and security for the Union

During the inaugural ceremony of the EU Space Week, Spanish Minister for Science and Innovation, Diana Morant, highlighted the crucial role of space in spurring innovation across all sectors of the economy: ‘’Space innovation plays a key role in solving some of our greatest challenges as a society, such as climate emergency. Space also ensures the autonomy of the Union and its Member States.’’

Director General for Defence Industry and Space at the European Commission, Timo Pesonen, reiterated the Union’s commitments to strengthening the resilience of its space infrastructures. “The space sector is undergoing a massive transformation. To maintain the leadership of Europe, we must rethink our resilience, our technological non-dependence and our business models. We need to consolidate and evolve our space assets.”

Eyes on 2035 

During a roundtable discussion, top executives from the European Commission, EUSPA, the Spanish Space Agency and ESA shared their vision regarding the evolution of the EU Space Programme and the industry by 2035.

The Director of the Spanish Space Agency, Miguel Belló, said that Spain will continue contributing to the Programme by supporting future Copernicus missions and the upcoming satellite communications constellation IRIS² and by working on developing more advanced surveillance systems which will be used for the European Space Surveillance and Tracking.

When asked what the key ingredient for the EU Space Programme is to be successful, Director-General for Defence Industry and Space, Timo Pesonen highlighted competitiveness. The Space sector is undergoing a massive transformation. To maintain the leadership of Europe, we must rethink our resilience, our technological non-dependence and business models,’’ he said

Present at the roundtable were EUSPA Executive Director, Rodrigo da Costa, and Director General of the European Space Agency Josef Aschbacher.

Staying true to the mission of the agency he leads, da Costa said that "adaptability is what will make the EU Space Programme and its various components evolve and deliver cutting edge space-based services. This can only be achieved through continuous dialogue with the users."

"Europe has realised the importance of the New Space economy which is projected to reach 1 trillion dollars by the year 2040. By 2035, I expect to see much bigger changes in the area of launchers among others," said Josef Aschbacher. ‘’Europe should develop innovative launchers able to carry various payloads he concluded.’’  

New Space actors to the front! 

As the global economy continues its multifaceted transformation, so does Europe’s space economy throughout its full value chain, upstream, midstream and downstream. A dedicated session called ‘’Interactive Discussion with Inspiring Entrepreneurs and Innovators’’ brought to the fore milestones achieved by the vibrant European New Space economy.

Space safety is becoming critical as the number of satellites in orbit grows exponentially. New space companies like Vyoma are now more and more contributing to the management of the space traffic caused either by debris or by functioning satellites. As Luisa Buinhas explained, Vyoma is looking to develop in-orbit optical telescopes to observe space objects and map the orbital environment at a high frequency, thus providing SSA data and services with near-zero latency. 

In the area of micro-launchers, Europe made a significant leap with the launch of Miura-1 a suborbital launch vehicle, privately developed. As Raul Verdu explained "micro launchers in reshaping the European launchers industry but also are democratising access to space.’’

Orbify CEO Jakub Dziwisz praised the role of the CASSINI Business Accelerator and other EUSPA funding initiatives in giving start-ups the necessary tools to upscale. As Dziwisz explained his company automates the analysis of satellite imagery through AI and ML models to streamline the measurement and assessment of natural assets, providing environmental insights within a few clicks.

Another highlight of the day was an inspirational speech by Laia Romero, Co-founder and CEO of Lobelia Earth who emphasised the importance of Earth Observation in addressing climate change. 

We’re just getting started! 

EU Space Week day No2 is going to be a packed one so better get some rest!

Be sure to tune in tomorrow for an agenda that includes among others "New Ways of Doing Space’’, "Space 4 EU Green Deal’’ award ceremonies and networking events.

Could not make it to Spain? You can always participate online and network with other virtual participants through our interactive platform.  

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).