e-GEOS, the company jointly owned by Telespazio (80 percent) and the Italian Space Agency (20 percent), has signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to supply optical and radar satellite data for the GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) program. Under the agreement, which is worth approximately 3.5 million euros, e-GEOS will provide the ESA with images from the three radar satellites that form the Italian COSMO-SkyMed constellation and from the GeoEye-1, IKONOS, QuickBird, WorldView-1 and WorldView-2 optical satellites.
By signing the contract, e-GEOS has confirmed its status as the European multi-mission hub for high resolution optical and radar satellite data. GMES is a joint program run by the European Commission and the ESA to develop European Earth-observation capacity, with the primary aim of monitoring and better understanding climate change and contributing to the security of all European citizens. The images supplied by e-GEOS will mainly be used for the fast-track services geoland2 and SAFER and for the pilot service G-MOSAIC.
In the field of emergency management, e-GEOS can also make a vital contribution to meeting the operational needs of the GMES program, thanks to the unique characteristics of the COSMO-SkyMed satellite system, which is capable of acquiring multiple images of a specific area on the same day, anywhere in the world and in any weather. The COSMO-SkyMed constellation, funded by the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Defence Ministry, currently consists of three operational satellites, with plans to launch a fourth satellite in 2010. The system is controlled from Telespazio‘s Fucino Space Centre, while civil-sector data is gathered and processed by e-GEOS at the Matera Space Centre. The Neustrelitz station in Germany will organise and process high-resolution data from the GeoEye-1 and IKONOS optical satellites covering Europe and the Mediterranean Basin. The station is operated on behalf of e-GEOS by its subsidiary GAF/Euromap, in collaboration with the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
