zprávy

Farming by smartphone. Creating artistic, personalised products using satellite imagery. Building a better back nine from space. And monitoring road safety issues without a human in sight. 

These aren’t clips from some sci-fi future. It’s all happening now – thanks to EU Space and 11 very innovative European start-ups.

The start-ups are the winners of the #myEUspace competition, a EUSPA initiative supporting the development of innovative commercial applications that leverage data coming from the EU Space Programme. 

Launched in September 2021 as part of the European Commission’s CASSINI Space Entrepreneurship Initiative and with over EUR 1 million in prize money on the line, #myEUspace is one of the biggest competitions ever organised by EUSPA. 

And the winners are…

Following an intense nine-week process of fine-tuning prototypes and products, refining business plans and making final pitches to a scrutinising panel of judges, the competition’s winners were announced at EUSPA’s Entrepreneurship Day. 

While the selected solutions cover such diverse sectors as location-based services, smart mobility, geomatics and precision agriculture, they all share a foundation in their use of data coming from Galileo, Copernicus or a synergistic combination of the two.

So, without further ado, let us introduce to you 11 of Europe’s hottest, most disruptive space-based start-ups:

Track 1:

• SANGENE: integrated GNSS-based passive radar for the detection and first localisation of obstacles.

• EO4ART: web application for artistic and personalised products based on satellite images acquired over a specific region of interest.

• ALTIWAVE: satellite-derived regional wave heights for the marine energy sector.

• Master Map: automatic road mapping status for maintenance optimisation.

• VirtualCrop: application for sustainable precision farming that turns phones into data gathering and analysis tools.

• RIGOROUS: efficient and effective development and deployment of solutions based on using Randomness-Intensive algorithms for near-real-time route optimisation.

Track 2:

• C-ITS Platform: increased road safety, powered by Galileo and Copernicus.

• E20.Green: intelligent platform powered by GNSS, AI, EO and IoT that enables golf courses and urban green spaces to effectively manage their assets, operations and land.

• SPAI: solution to easily integrate satellite analytics into the work practices of expert and non-expert users, effortlessly extracting the value of EO using AI.

• SOILSPECT: automatic monitoring of ground settlement happening at construction sites.  

• Agricircle: dashboard for monitoring the outcome of regenerative agriculture initiatives.

Defining the future today 

While the competition may be over, for these 11 start-ups, the work is just beginning. Armed with up to EUR 50,000 in prize money and ready access to additional sources of financing, mentoring and incubation, the winners will now work to further develop their products and services and move them towards commercialisation.

"Space data and services are driving innovation and enabling disruptive technologies in a wide range of sectors", says EUSPA Executive Director, Rodrigo da Costa. "Start-ups have been particularly enthusiastic in embracing the potential offered by the EU Space Programme. I would like to congratulate the winners and also the participants for the effort they put."

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).

Farming by smartphone. Creating artistic, personalised products using satellite imagery. Building a better back nine from space. And monitoring road safety issues without a human in sight. 

These aren’t clips from some sci-fi future. It’s all happening now – thanks to EU Space and 11 very innovative European start-ups.

The start-ups are the winners of the #myEUspace competition, a EUSPA initiative supporting the development of innovative commercial applications that leverage data coming from the EU Space Programme. 

Launched in September 2021 as part of the European Commission’s CASSINI Space Entrepreneurship Initiative and with over EUR 1 million in prize money on the line, #myEUspace is one of the biggest competitions ever organised by EUSPA. 

And the winners are…

Following an intense nine-week process of fine-tuning prototypes and products, refining business plans and making final pitches to a scrutinising panel of judges, the competition’s winners were announced at EUSPA’s Entrepreneurship Day. 

While the selected solutions cover such diverse sectors as location-based services, smart mobility, geomatics and precision agriculture, they all share a foundation in their use of data coming from Galileo, Copernicus or a synergistic combination of the two.

So, without further ado, let us introduce to you 11 of Europe’s hottest, most disruptive space-based start-ups:

Track 1:

• SANGENE: integrated GNSS-based passive radar for the detection and first localisation of obstacles.

• EO4ART: web application for artistic and personalised products based on satellite images acquired over a specific region of interest.

• ALTIWAVE: satellite-derived regional wave heights for the marine energy sector.

• Master Map: automatic road mapping status for maintenance optimisation.

• VirtualCrop: application for sustainable precision farming that turns phones into data gathering and analysis tools.

• RIGOROUS: efficient and effective development and deployment of solutions based on using Randomness-Intensive algorithms for near-real-time route optimisation.

Track 2:

• C-ITS Platform: increased road safety, powered by Galileo and Copernicus.

• E20.Green: intelligent platform powered by GNSS, AI, EO and IoT that enables golf courses and urban green spaces to effectively manage their assets, operations and land.

• SPAI: solution to easily integrate satellite analytics into the work practices of expert and non-expert users, effortlessly extracting the value of EO using AI.

• SOILSPECT: automatic monitoring of ground settlement happening at construction sites.  

• Agricircle: dashboard for monitoring the outcome of regenerative agriculture initiatives.

Defining the future today 

While the competition may be over, for these 11 start-ups, the work is just beginning. Armed with up to EUR 50,000 in prize money and ready access to additional sources of financing, mentoring and incubation, the winners will now work to further develop their products and services and move them towards commercialisation.

"Space data and services are driving innovation and enabling disruptive technologies in a wide range of sectors", says EUSPA Executive Director, Rodrigo da Costa. "Start-ups have been particularly enthusiastic in embracing the potential offered by the EU Space Programme. I would like to congratulate the winners and also the participants for the effort they put."

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).

EUSPA is revamping its online presence – and we need your help! Take part in our study and let us know how we can build a better website user experience for you.

When the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) was launched in May 2021, it represented the start of a new era for EU Space. With an expanded mandate and new responsibilities, EUSPA has remained committed to helping the EU, its citizens and its businesses maximise the many social and economic benefits offered by the EU Space Programme.

Part of this commitment means making sure you can easily access the EU Space information you need when and where you need it – and that starts with our website. To build a better user experience, we have created a study in two parts to find out what you want to see and how you want to see it. Take our short online survey and participate in our tree testing study to provide us with your valuable insights. Read on to learn more.

An evolving space programme and organisation

Today, the EU Space Programme consists of:

• Copernicus, Europe’s Earth Observation system
• Galileo, the EU´s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
• EGNOS, the EU’s regional satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS)
• GOVSATCOM
• The Space Situational Awareness (SSA) programme and the Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) services

Read more: GOVSATCOM adds secure governmental communications to the EU Space Programme

Together, these core components enable a wide range of critical services and everyday applications, making the EU Space Programme indispensable to the lives of Europeans.

The EU Space Programme also provides essential infrastructure that gives the European economy an important competitive edge and plays a key role in Europe’s digital transformation. Copernicus, as the number one world provider of space data and information, coupled with Galileo’s impressive 20 cm accuracy, means that EU space technology and data are a major enabler in the GNSS and Earth Observation downstream market. A market, that on a global scale, is expected to reach almost EUR 500 billion in revenue over the next decade.

With so much growth on the horizon, in addition to managing an increasing workload, promoting innovative downstream applications, scaling the market share of EGNSS and Copernicus and creating new synergies across the EU Space Programme requires that EUSPA, as an organisation, evolve. That is why we are currently in the process of establishing ourselves as a matrix organisation. By streamlining our operations and maximising efficiency, this change in structure will allow us to better meet our expanded mandate and growing responsibilities.

We need your help!

Even with its expanded mandate, new responsibilities and an updated organisational structure, EUSPA’s mission remains the same: linking space to user needs. To ensure we continue to meet that mission, we need your support.

You can help us improve our website to better serve your needs in two ways:

1. By taking our short survey, you will ensure that we are providing the type of information and content you are looking for when you visit the EUSPA site. Your input will be used to tailor the type of online content we provide.
2. Our tree testing study, which should take no more than 10 minutes of your time, will help us better understand how you navigate our site and how easily you can find the information you are looking for. We’ll use your input to design an enhanced user experience for our online presence.

Because we want to gather input from as many different users as possible, we also ask that you share our survey within your own network. Simply copy and paste this link (https://bit.ly/3sRBhlM) into your preferred social media channels, email and messaging apps.

Together, we can make the link between space and users even stronger!

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).

Dňa 16.6.2022 sa uskutoční opakovaná odborná príprava držiteľov oprávnení na projektovanie pozemkových úprav

When it comes to weather-related events, 2021 was a record-breaking year for Europe. The summer the hottest on record – with a part of Sicily setting a provisional heat record for Europe at 48.8 degrees Celsius in August – translating into a very dry Mediterranean region. This extreme heatwave ignited wildfires across countries like Greece and Italy. According to the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), these fires overwhelmed firefighters, forced people to evacuate their homes and left at least 86 dead. By the end, 2021 was the second worst year ever for forest fires in the Mediterranean. But it wasn’t just southern Europe that suffered. Up north, parts of Germany, Belgium and some surrounding countries were inundated by record-breaking rains and deadly flooding. 

“Satellite technologies have proven invaluable in addressing emergencies, with an enormous potential to further contribute to effective response and adequate recovery” said Minister for Climate Crisis  and Protection in his opening remarks  at the Satellite-based Services for Disaster Risk Management Workshop organised in Athens, Greece. ‘’ EU programmes like Copernicus and Galileo help us build an efficient disaster risk management cycle - prevent and prepare, respond, and recover” he concluded.

“Last summer was a case study in the importance of having innovative tools and solutions for effective disaster risk management and response,” said Rodrigo da Costa, Executive Director of the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA). “The key to building these potentially life-saving tools and solutions is the EU Space Programme.”

According to da Costa, each component of the EU Space Programme brings added value to different phases of the disaster risk management and mitigation chain. For example, the Copernicus EMS service provides on-demand, detailed information for selected emergency situations, including fires and flooding. 

The service also offers continuous observations and forecasting for flood, drought and fire risks, providing decision makers with the critical geospatial information they need to, for example, issue an evacuation order or early warning alert. 

The power of synergy 

Although Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus each offer emergency responders with a unique tool set, EU Space offers even more benefits when used in synergy. 

“When the Greek central region of Thessaly has been affected by floods in 2020 trapping hundreds of people and rendered transportation and communication infrastructure useless, satellite communication, working in synergy with Copernicus (CEMS activation) and European GNSS (EGNSS), provided rescue teams with the spatial awareness, connectivity and highly accurate positioning and navigation they needed to save lives,” da Costa told the Hellenic Parliament in Greece. 

As part of his visit to Athens, da Costa addressed the Parliament’s Special Permanent Committee on Environmental Protection during a dedicated discussion on using the EU Space Programme to prevent and respond to natural disasters.

This synergy between GNSS and Earth Observation is particularly beneficial to drone operations, which emergency response teams use for everything from inspecting flooded areas to post-earthquake search and rescue operations and monitoring remote wildfires. 

As to the later, firefighting teams are replacing traditional ground-based systems supported by manned aircraft with more cost-effective drones. Equipped with a wide-range of sensors for capturing Earth Observation data and navigated using GNSS positioning, advanced drones can now provide firefighters with another layer of information – and protection.    

Secure satellite communications for security and safety-critical missions 

But what happens when a disaster occurs where there are no ground stations, either because they were destroyed, such as during an earthquake, or because they never existed in the first place? Or what if the end users require secure communication? 

For emergency situations like these, there’s GOVSATCOM.

As the fourth pillar of the EU Space Programme, GOVSATCOM will provide secure, cost-efficient communication capabilities to security and safety-critical missions, operations and infrastructure. Its users will include border and maritime authorities, law enforcement agencies, civil protection forces, search and rescue services, disaster relief and humanitarian missions, authorised infrastructure operators and military forces. 

By working in synergy with Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus, GOVSATCOM will further enhance the EU Space Programme’s ability to keep European citizens safe and secure.  While Copernicus and EGNSS provide the necessary data and positioning, some security incidents also require a means of communication that is robustly protected against interference, interception, intrusion and other risks. GOVSATCOM bridges this gap between the need for assured and secure communication and the capabilities already offered by Copernicus, Galileo and EGNOS.

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).