Hovering Horizon Featuring EO Solutions for pandemic crisis Copernicus Service in Support to EU External Action - Copernicus SEA

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Hovering Horizon Featuring EO Solutions for pandemic crisis Copernicus Service in Support to EU External Action - Copernicus SEA
March – April 2020

Hovering Horizon
Issue 5

Featuring EO Solutions for
pandemic crisis    COVID-19

Copernicus Service in Support to
EU External Action

Implemented by:

                              SatCen
Hovering Horizon Featuring EO Solutions for pandemic crisis Copernicus Service in Support to EU External Action - Copernicus SEA
Contents

Summary Matrix						3

R&D and Academia         				5

Policy and Regulations					8

Satellite Financing						10

Upstream Activities					12

New Technology / Equipment				                  13

Satellite operations and launch				             14

Downstream Activities / Services				            15

Annex I. List of Key Events and Conferences		   19

Annex II. Selected satellites launched
in the period January to February 2020		        23

                2
Hovering Horizon Featuring EO Solutions for pandemic crisis Copernicus Service in Support to EU External Action - Copernicus SEA
SatCen
                                     Summary Matrix

                                             FEATURE CONTENT            COVID-19

 Category            Development                                       Impact on EO Security                                Page

               COVID-19 outbreak has
                                              Likely, COVID-19 and policies related to the current crisis will affect the
               changed the focus on
                                              decisions made in security.
                                                                                                                             5
Research and   EO innovation
Development

               EDPB adopts a statement
               on the processing data         Under circumstances relating to public health, competent public health
               in the context of the          authorities can process personal data without consent of individuals.
                                                                                                                             8
               COVID-19 outbreak

 Policy and
               African governments use         Data procured through the GRID3 help public authorities to create maps
Regulations
               GRID3 data in response to      that include settlement extents which are key planning tools for health        9
               the pandemic crisis            policymakers.

               ESA issues two new
                                              ESA has just launched two new initiatives to better understand the
               initiatives to understand
               the effects created by the
                                              effect of COVID-19 on the society and the environment to supplement           11
  Satellite                                   the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite mission.
 Financing     pandemic crisis

               Drones playing a growing       In China and Australia drone usage has been extended for pandemic
               role in response to the        monitoring purposes such as monitoring movements of people,                   12
 Upstream      coronavirus pandemic           broadcasting messages and transporting samples.
 Activities

                                              The Guyana Space Center has ceased major operations due to the
               The launch of UAE’s Falcon
               Eye 2 satellite is delayed
                                              Coronavirus. The launch of Falcon Eye 2 satellite has thus been delayed       14
  Satellite                                   to September.
 Operations

               Sentinel-5P data shows
                                              As quarantine measures take place, air pollution maps show major
               a drop in pollution across
                                              drops in large cities such as Paris, Madrid and Milan.
                                                                                                                            15
               Europe

               The Copernicus Climate
                                              An EU-funded project will develop a platform to study the relation
               Change Service develops
                                              between climatic, epidemiological and socio-economic data and support
Downstream     the COVID Climate Toolbox
                                              actors’ decision-making during the pandemic.
  Services     platform

               European mobile carriers
                                              European mobile operators share anonymous, GDPR compliant data on
               share data to fight against
                                              citizen movements with health authorities to help fight COVID-19.
                                                                                                                            16
               the virus pandemic

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Hovering Horizon Featuring EO Solutions for pandemic crisis Copernicus Service in Support to EU External Action - Copernicus SEA
FEATURE CONTENT            COVID-19

   Category             Development                                        Impact on EO Security                               Page

                                                  To face COVID-19, Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) members have
                  OGC members publish
                                                  been publishing resources to inform their customers, governments and
                  their resources to face the
                                                  the public at large and help authorities to take the appropriate decisions
                                                                                                                               16
                  pandemic crisis
                                                  during the crisis.

                  NASA reveals a drop in air      NASA has identified a 20-year low in aerosol levels in India since the
                  pollution in India following    March 25 lockdown date, based on data from the Moderate Resolution           16
                  the COVID-19 pandemic           Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite.

 Downstream                                       China used GaoFen, Zhuhai and Sentinel-1 to monitor construction of
                  China uses satellites to
   Services       combat COVID-19
                                                  hospitals being built to tackle COVID-19. TFSTAR AI satellite helped         17
                                                  create the geographical reach of the virus.

                  BlackSky is offering
                  remote access to its            BlackSky’s telework package is designed for workers who handle
                  global monitoring services      sensitive information. The package provides access to BlackSky’s             17
                  and satellite imaging           satellites for tasking and archiving data.
                  during the pandemic crisis

                                                     GENERAL HIGHLIGHTS

   Category             Development                                        Impact on EO Security                               Page

                  NRO shifts its strategy
                                                  The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office is abandoning its long-standing
                  to buy commercial
                                                  monogamous relationship with Maxar Technologies and will buy
                  satellite imagery from
                                                  imagery from other vendors to improve the quality of its EO-related
                                                                                                                                8
   Policy and     vendors other than Maxar
                                                  security services.
  Regulations     Technologies

                                                  The UK startup Sen selected NanoAvionics, a Lithuanian satellite
                  NanoAvionics selected
                                                  manufacturer, to develop an EarthTV constellation. With this new
                  by Sen to build EarthTV
                                                  European partnership, Sen will stream ultra-high definition video from
                                                                                                                               12
   Upstream       satellites
                                                  space starting in 2021.
   Activities

                                                  ICEYE unveiled SAR imagery with a 25-centimeter resolution using its
                  ICEYE unveils SAR imagery
                                                  small satellites constellation. This innovation will help governmental
                  with a resolution of 25
                                                  agencies and commercial entities to achieve very detailed change
                                                                                                                               13
New Technology/   centimeters
                                                  detection.
  Equipment

                                                  Iran launches a military satellite on a previously unknown launch
                  Iran launches EO military
                  satellite
                                                  vehicle called Qassed. The satellite is expected to have limited             14
   Satellite                                      resolution given the small size of the launch vehicle.
  Operations

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Hovering Horizon Featuring EO Solutions for pandemic crisis Copernicus Service in Support to EU External Action - Copernicus SEA
Section 1
                                             R&D and Academia

Figure 1 – COVID-19 deaths April 2020 on a map of near surface air temperatures from Copernicus Climate Services.
Figure from: https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/apps/c3s/app-c3s-monthly-climate-covid-19-explorer

How can EO provide insights pandemic related security issues?
The link between the current COVID-19 outbreak and EO
data for security is stronger than one might think. This                   EO Information for the COVID-19 Crisis:
new worldwide situation makes it ever more important to                    ■ Copernicus - European Air Quality information in
stay in control in security related matters. Spatial proxies1                support of the COVID-19 crisis
and direct insights from satellite data provides more                      ■ C3S helps health experts explore how temperature and
information on the security challenges at hand. Areas such                   humidity affect virus spread
as border monitoring, sea traffic monitoring and human                     ■ Climate Data Store - Monthly climate explorer for
activity in urban centers, can be linked to the spatial                      COVID-19
developments from clusters of disease outbreak and
policy actions, if several data sources are combined in an
intelligent manner. As quarantine conditions force people                In the light of the COVID-19 outbreak, a number of
to stay at home there’s also a risk to food security, making             research calls for solving disease related problems have
EO more than ever a useful tool for crop monitoring.2                    been issued. EO data is one of the sources of data that
                                                                         could be used to learn more about the disease and how
                                                                         it spreads.

                                                                           COVID-19 EO – Research calls:
                                                                           ■ Compiled list of funding opportunities by The Group
1   https://www.planet.com/pulse/how-satellite-data-can-help-with-
    covid-19-and-beyond/                                                     on Earth Observations (GEO) Health Community of
    https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Preparing_for_the_Future/           Practice
    Space_for_Earth/Space_for_health/Disease_Surveillance
                                                                           ■ ESA Business - Space in response to Covid-19 outbreak
2   https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-12/satellites-         ■ Copernicus - Current action and how you can help
    are-helping-to-track-food-supplies-in-era-of-virus

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Hovering Horizon Featuring EO Solutions for pandemic crisis Copernicus Service in Support to EU External Action - Copernicus SEA
Additionally, crowdsourcing is encouraged and a number
of contests and challenges are meant to enhance the
open datasets currently available on geo-data. This
helps mapping areas of the world where only sparse
information is available, such as vulnerable developing
countries. Another significant application of crowdsourcing
relating to security is border monitoring. Maxar’s GeoHIVE
platform was used to identify official and unofficial
border crossings in Iran. The identified crossings revealed
existing health risks to neighboring countries during the
pandemic.3 For things to keep an eye out for the ongoing
custom script contest by ESA and NASA’s Space Apps
COVID-19 hackathon on May 30-31 will likely showcase
some creative EO based solutions for COVID-19.

    EO related crowdsourcing for the COVID-19 Crisis:
    ■ Mapping in times of COVID-19 and how you can help -
      Humanitarian OpenStreetMap
    ■ ESA, EC and Sentinel-hub COVID-19 Custom Script
      Contest managed by Euro Data Cube
    ■ MAXAR’s GeoHIVE crowdsourcing platform
    ■ NASA Space Apps COVID-19 challenge, May 30-31

Monitoring human activity both during and after lockdowns
resulting from COVID-19 can be achieved by EO data on
large scales both using conventional SAR change detection
methods and optical imagery, but also light emission data
at nighttime. NASA’s Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer
Suite (VIIRS) has been used in several cases to investigate
human activity patterns during COVID-194 5. Nighttime-
Light data relates to economic activity and can among
other things indicate which roads that are actively being
used. The data is provided in near-real-time, since this is
critical in a security-related setting it makes it suitable to
respond to threats derived from COVID-19 crisis.

3   https://explore.maxar.com/rs/748-UOX-850/images/Vol_21_
    Mar_2020_Coronavirus%20in%20Iran.pdf
4   https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/146481/nighttime-images-
    capture-change-in-china
5   https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/monitoring-the-covid-19-crisis-
    from-space/

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Hovering Horizon Featuring EO Solutions for pandemic crisis Copernicus Service in Support to EU External Action - Copernicus SEA
Scientific papers
worth noticing
Wang, Y., & Xiang Zhu, X. (2017). Earth Observation Using              Racault, M.-F.; Abdulaziz, A.; George, G.; Menon, N.; C,
SAR and Social Media Images. In Proceedings of the IEEE                J.; Punathil, M.; McConville, K.; Loveday, B.; Platt, T.;
Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition                  Sathyendranath, S.; Vijayan, V. Environmental Reservoirs of
Workshops (pp. 95-103).                                                Vibrio cholerae: Challenges and Opportunities for Ocean-
                                                                       Color Remote Sensing. Remote Sens. 2019, 11, 2763.
http://openaccess.thecvf.com/content_cvpr_2017_
workshops/w18/papers/Wang_Earth_Observation_Using_                     https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/23/2763
CVPR_2017_paper.pdf                                                    Ocean-color remote sensing observations are increasingly
One of the promising way forward on the use of EO in                   used to map and forecast cholera disease outbreaks and
security, and other applications, is the combination of                the distribution of V. cholerae environmental reservoirs in
satellite data with other sources, e.g. social media data. This        fresh, coastal, and open-ocean systems. This paper reviews
research field is still in its early development, but scientific       the use of ocean-color remote sensing data, in conjunction
development is happening such as this paper on urban                   with information on the ecology of the pathogen, to map
mapping with both social media images and TerraSAR-X                   its distribution and forecast risk of disease occurrence.
satellite data. This type of research can potentially lead to
much denser datasets of urban environment in the future
and thereby also benefit security related areas.

Hardy, A.; Ettritch, G.; Cross, D.E.; Bunting, P.; Liywalii, F.;
Sakala, J.; Silumesii, A.; Singini, D.; Smith, M.; Willis, T.;
Thomas, C.J. Automatic Detection of Open and Vegetated
Water Bodies Using Sentinel 1 to Map African Malaria
Vector Mosquito Breeding Habitats. Remote Sens. 2019,
11, 593.

https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/5/593
This paper presents an automated, tractable solution for
mapping both open and vegetated water bodies in a large
floodplain environment with a high degree of accuracy
using Sentinel-1 radar imagery and openly available
ancillary datasets. Developed water body products indicate
a number of areas where surface water persists beyond
the wet season. This identification is significant in terms
of public health risk mapping as these areas are likely to
maintain mosquito densities throughout the year.

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Hovering Horizon Featuring EO Solutions for pandemic crisis Copernicus Service in Support to EU External Action - Copernicus SEA
Section 2
                                        Policy and Regulations

Regulatory Review                                                  Policy
     ■ The European Data Protection Board adopts a                 ■ NRO shifts its strategy to buy commercial satellite
       statement on the processing data in the context               imagery from vendors other than Maxar Technologies
       of the COVID-19 outbreak
                                                                   April 13: The US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is
March 16: The European Data Protection Board (EDPB)                abandoning its long-standing monogamous relationship
released a statement on the processing data in the                 with Maxar Technologies, as the office will award contracts
context of the COVID-19. Public and private organisations          to new vendors to comply with its customers’ requirements.
throughout Europe are taking measures to mitigate                  For past decade, DigitalGlobe (last year consolidated into
COVID-19 which might involve the processing of personal            Maxar), has been the sole source of commercial satellite
data related to individuals’ mobile phones.                        data used by the U.S. Intelligence Community under the
                                                                   EnhanceView program series with commercial contracts
EDPB reaffirms that public authorities should first seek           through the NRO.
to process location data in an anonymous way which
could enable generating reports on the concentration of            This new strategy includes the release of a future Request
mobile devices at a certain location. In case the process of       for Proposal expected in the third quarter of fiscal year
anonymous data is not sufficient to face the crisis, EDPB          2020, followed by the award of multiple commercial
reminds the governments that the ePrivacy Directive                imagery contracts some months later. New vendors will all
enables Member States to introduce legislative measures            be U.S.-based companies as NRO has a policy of contracting
to safeguard public security under certain conditions.             only with American firms, or U.S. subsidiaries of foreign
                                                                   firms having successfully complied with the Foreign
                                                                   Control, Ownership or Influence (FOCI) requirements.

                                                                   Remains to be decided if these new contracts will split
                                                                   the $900 million NRO has set aside through 2023 for
                                                                   optioning images from Maxar or if NRO will increase its
                                                                   commercial imagery budget.

     Covid-19 related

                                                               8
Hovering Horizon Featuring EO Solutions for pandemic crisis Copernicus Service in Support to EU External Action - Copernicus SEA
■ Russia and Belarus to build eight high-resolution EO               ■ Axelspace partners with J-spacesystems in support of the
  satellites                                                           United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
April 15: Russia and Belarus have recently signed an                 April 15: To contribute to the United Nation’s SDGs,
agreement to jointly build a constellation of eight high             Axelspace Corporation concluded a Memorandum of
resolution Earth observation satellites. Belarussian satellite       Understanding with Japan Space Systems, also called
engineers have already achieved a preliminary design. The            J-spacesystems. This agreement will help the promotion
new project is supposed to be a follow-one design to the             of the satellite data use in the field of capacity building
BKA-1 Earth observation satellite operated by Belarus                and human resource development. Currently, capacity
which is able to capture two-meter resolution images. The            building programs, such as the Japanese Government’s
new units will feature a high-resolution camera capable              ABE initiative, use freely available satellite imagery to
of capturing images of 35 centimetres resolution. The                reduce costs. However, this imagery is, for most part, not
optics will be manufactured by the Belarussian company               satisfactory in terms of imaging frequency or resolution.
OAO Peleng and the integrated circuits will be built by the
Belarussian Integral Plant.                                          Through this agreement, the two companies will use
                                                                     AxelGlobe constellation data to resolve this issue and
No information regarding the project’s budget or the                 expect thus to make a substantial contribution to achieving
launch date of the constellation’s first unit (expected to be        SDGs.
named BKA-2) are available. Analysts speculates that the
launch might occur in 2023. However, due to the current
pandemic crisis, all operations have come to a halt.

     ■ African governments use GRID3 data in response
       to the pandemic crisis
April 17: To face the pandemic effects in sub-Saharan
Africa, Geo-Referenced Infrastructure and Demographic
Data for Development (GRID3) is marshalling its data
resources and capacities to help partner governments.
GRID3 is a program combining the expertise of partners
in States, United Nations, academia and private sector to
generate geospatial data on population, infrastructure and
boundaries.

GRID3 supports various countries during the crisis such as
Nigeria, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Data procured through the program help public authorities
to create maps that include settlement extents which are
key planning tools for health policymakers.

      Covid-19 related

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Hovering Horizon Featuring EO Solutions for pandemic crisis Copernicus Service in Support to EU External Action - Copernicus SEA
Section 3
                                         Satellite Financing

■ PredaSAR raises $25 million for its SAR constellation               The startup has already demonstrated its technology of
                                                                      streaming ultra-high definition video from space following
March 3: PredaSAR, a Florida startup, completes $25
                                                                      the launch of its first six UHD units in 2019 as hosted
million seed financing round to build its constellation of at
                                                                      payloads on a commercial satellite. With the EarthTV
least 44 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites. Funds
                                                                      constellation, Sen aims at offering video services free of
were raised from a diverse network of global institutional
                                                                      charge for individuals and to offer premium services for
investors.
                                                                      other organizations. Early adopters of Sen services might
                                                                      be government-backed projects focused on monitoring
The company was found in 2019 by Marc Bell which also
                                                                      climate change and movement of large groups of people.
owns Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems explaining partly why
PredaSAR hired Tyvak to build its first two units before
                                                                      ■ NASA awards a $7 million Earth imagery contract to
closing the funding round.
                                                                        Planet
The first satellite of the constellation will be launched in          April 17: In March 2020, Planet has been awarded a
early 2021. With its SAR project, PredaSAR aims to target             $7million Earth imagery contract by NASA, announced a
both the government (defense, intelligence, homeland                  month after. The agreement follows a climate research
security) and commercial markets.                                     pilot program under which Planet obtained a $6.7 million
                                                                      contract in April 2019. During the pilot program, Planet
■ NanoAvionics selected by Sen to build EarthTV satellites            imagery successfully supplemented data obtained by NASA
                                                                      from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer,
March 5: The U.K.-based startup, Sen, awarded
                                                                      its Terra and Aqua Earth observation satellites and from
NanoAvionics, a Lithuanian satellite manufacturer, a
                                                                      the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite on the NASA
multimillion-euro contract to build five nanosatellites
                                                                      and NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System.
aimed at capturing ultra-high-definition (UHD) video
from space. Under their agreement, NanoAvionics will
                                                                      Under this new contract, the space agency has now access
manufacture 16 cubesats buses and integrate the units
                                                                      to PlanetScope, the three-meter resolution global imagery
with Sen’s payload within its manufacturing and research
                                                                      captured each day by a constellation of more than 130
facility located in Lithuania. Each unit will be equipped with
                                                                      cubesats named Doves. The contract includes options to
cameras manufactured by Simera Sense of South Africa
                                                                      continue purchasing imagery through September 2023.
enabling the satellites to capture 1.5-meter, 10-meter,
50-meter and wide-angle UHD imagery.

NanoAvionics and Sen are currently conducting a study to
determine the exact number of satellites needed to obtain
the EarthTV constellation, which is estimated around
100 units according to Sen’s CEO. The startup plans to
launch its first EarthTV satellite by 2021, followed by four
additional units in 2022.

                                                                 10
Roundup of Grants, Invitations to Tender,
and other Financing Opportunities
     1. SPACE IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19 OUTBREAK                           3. SPACE BASED SERVICES / APPLICATIONS
        (TARGETED TO ITALY)                                                 ADDRESSING COVID-19 OUTBREAK
Financing:                                                           Financing:
European Space Agency, Invitation to Tender [AO10314]                European Space Agency, Invitation to Tender
Opening Date and Deadline:                                           Opening Date and Deadline:
31 March 2020 / 20 April 2020                                        TBD
Description:                                                         Description:
In cooperation with the Minister for Technological Innovation        Under preparation
and Digitalization (MID), ESA invites companies to propose
                                                                     Access: Link
Demonstration Projects dedicated to the deployment and
demonstration of pre-operational services, addressing
Healthcare or Education and based on at least one space
                                                                         4. MULTILATERAL CALL FOR SOLUTIONS FOR
asset. The proposed services shall be deployed in Italy and
                                                                            COVID-19 ECHO PERIOD – LIFE WITHOUT A
can be additionally demonstrated in other countries facing
                                                                            VACCINE
similar exceptional challenges.
                                                                     Financing:
Access: Link
                                                                     Eureka network
                                                                     Opening Date and Deadline:
     2. SPACE HELPING UK ON COVID-19 AND OTHER                       15 April 2020 / 15 May 2020
        PANDEMICS (TARGETED TO UK)                                   Description:
Financing:                                                           Participants are invited to submit research and innovation
European Space Agency, Invitation to Tender [AO10336]                project proposals aiming to provide short to medium-
                                                                     term responses to COVID-19 specific needs. The list of
Opening Date and Deadline:
                                                                     examples provided does not specially target space-related
14 April 2020 / 15 October 2020
                                                                     technologies but affirms that projects might be related to
Description:                                                         safe mobility including migration data and trends, regional
In cooperation with the UK Space Agency (UKSA), ESA                  risk monitoring etc.
calls for activities to facilitate the quick integration and
                                                                     Access: Link
deployment of sustainable and concrete solutions to
address the UK healthcare ecosystem’s needs related to
the COVID-19 pandemic crisis making use of the different
advantages provided by space-based products and services.
Access: Link

     Covid-19 related

                                                                11
Section 4
                                           Upstream Activities

■ Australian scientists develop a satellite to better identify          Drones are currently used in some areas to monitor peo-
  bushfires                                                             ple’s movements to make the restriction rules respected
                                                                        and reduce the risk of infection for public authorities. Some
March 3: Australian researchers develop a satellite to bet-
                                                                        authorities also use drones to broadcast messages and in-
ter detect bushfires following the 2019/2020 dramatic fire
                                                                        formation about the crisis in rural areas that lack open com-
season. The small spacecraft will be equipped with infra-
                                                                        munication channels for health information.
red detectors tuned to the country’s dominant vegetation.
Australian scientists already use satellites to investigate fire
                                                                        Drones can also be used to carry various products. UAVs
potential, but this new mission will provide more accurate
                                                                        carry out tasks like spraying disinfectant in potentially af-
and precise information.
                                                                        fected areas. They also deliver transport samples from
                                                                        hospital to laboratories and groceries in different countries
According to the ANU Research School of Astronomy and
                                                                        including Australia and China.
Astrophysics team, the satellite will be launched in a few
years. It is expected to be suitcase-sized and have a resolu-
                                                                        ■ Airbus will support India and France to monitor climate
tion of about 10 meters.
                                                                          change with TRISHNA
■ World View Stratollite fleet to deliver high resolution               April 20: The French space agency, CNES, has recently con-
  imagery and data analytics in North and Central America               cluded a contract with Airbus Defence and Space to develop
                                                                        and manufacture the thermal infrared instrument of the
March 3: World View Enterprises, the stratospheric data and
                                                                        TRISHNA (Thermal infraRed Imaging Satellite for High reso-
information services company, will soon offer high resolu-
                                                                        lution Natural resource Assessment) satellite.
tion imagery and associated analytics products from an in-
tegrated network of vehicles operating in the stratosphere.
                                                                        TRISHNA will be the latest satellite in the joint Franco-Italian
The company has announced its plans to build and launch a
                                                                        satellite fleet dedicated to climate monitoring and opera-
fleet of Stratollites, called World View Orbits, over North and
                                                                        tional applications. CNES and the Indian space agency, ISRO,
Central America starting summer 2020. Initial operational
                                                                        are partnering on the development of an infrared observa-
capabilities will follow, and full fleet operations are expected
                                                                        tion system with high thermal resolution and high revisit
in first half of 2021.
                                                                        capability including a satellite and associated ground seg-
                                                                        ment. ISRO will provide the platform, the visible and short
Using its satellites, World View will provide high resolution
                                                                        wave infrared instrument and will be the prime contractor
imagery access at 15 centimetres ground sample distance
                                                                        for the satellite. CNES is co-responsible for the mission and
(GSD) using precision instruments manufactured by part-
                                                                        will provide the thermal infrared instrument developed by
ners and suppliers. Data will be delivered to end users via
                                                                        Airbus. The ground segment is shared between the two
the company’s secure data portal on its website.
                                                                        countries.
The company also affirmed to be working on an electro-op-
                                                                        For this mission, Airbus is leveraging the latest innovations
tical sensor to provide higher resolution imagery at better
                                                                        to offer an affordable high performance instrument. The
than 5 centimetres GSD.
                                                                        satellite will image the Earth every three days at 50 meters
                                                                        resolution.
     ■ Drones playing a growing role in response to the
       coronavirus pandemic
April 20: Technologies such as GIS, artificial intelligence and
mapping are crucial during the pandemic crisis. Drones are
playing a key role by helping authorities in different fields.

                                                                   12
Section 5
                                        New Technology/
                                        Equipment

■ ESA tested monitoring data to track movement of                   This kind of imagery is acquired by a single satellite star-
  people                                                            ing at a location for 10 seconds. This precise resolution is
                                                                    only available for targets in the azimuth direction or in the
April 28: As part of the coronavirus response, govern-
                                                                    satellite’s path of travel. For targets in the range direction
ments across the EU are pushing for high-tech solutions
                                                                    or perpendicular to the satellite’s direction, ICEYE provides
to reduce the spread of the Covid-19 virus. Contact trac-
                                                                    imagery with a 50-centimeter resolution.
ing and tracking the movements of infected people is just
one example. Recent years have seen an explosion in data
                                                                    This new product will enable the commercial and govern-
sources which can cast light on people’s movements, in-
                                                                    ment customers of the company to achieve very high lev-
cluding satellites, drones, mobile phones and social media.
                                                                    els of detailed change detection and improve their track-
In the wake of the refugee crisis of 2015, EU agencies, tech
                                                                    ing capabilities.
companies and research consortiums started exploring the
use of these new data sources to predict movements of
                                                                    GeoOptics announces the launch of an innovative radio
migrants into Europe, and these techniques can be applied
                                                                    occultation data processing system
to track the spread of the virus in today’s pandemic.

                                                                    April 15: GeoOptics launched an original radio occultation
In 2016, ESA, recognizing the lack of timely information on
                                                                    data processing system named the GeoOptics Processor
migration trends, reached out to a number of EU agencies
                                                                    for Radio Occultation (GeoPRO) to provide even more ac-
including Frontex and the European Asylum Support Office
                                                                    curate and timely weather data from its CICERO constel-
with a collaborative pitch to use big data and space assets
                                                                    lation of radio occultation satellites. Radio occultation is a
to harness these tools to track the movements of people.
                                                                    remote sensing technique used for measuring properties
At least four feasibility studies were carried out with
                                                                    of the atmosphere and can be used as a weather forecast-
companies including GMV, CGI, Thales Alenia, the geo-
                                                                    ing tool and to monitor climate change. The constellation
information specialist EGEOS and Vodafone.
                                                                    is made of smallsats designed to create the most details
                                                                    picture ever assembled of the Earth’s ionosphere and at-
The feasibility studies “confirmed the usefulness” of
                                                                    mosphere.
combining space technology and big data for monitoring
migration movements, according to ESA. The space value
                                                                    As the number of GeoOptics satellites and ground stations
added included exploiting Sentinel-1 and -2 data, improve
                                                                    increases, data will arrive much more frequently requiring
monitoring capabilities using VHR data, provide anomalies
                                                                    less latency. GeoOptics aims at improving the method cur-
detected from mobile data as inputs to geospatial based
                                                                    rently used called “phase-matching” which is considered
monitoring and searching services, and more.
                                                                    too resource intensive for use in real-time data process-
                                                                    ing for operational weather modelling and forecasting.
■ ICEYE unveils SAR imagery with a resolution of 25
                                                                    GeoPRO is a real-time phase-matching processing sys-
  centimeters
                                                                    tem built around the on-demand parallelism enabled by
March 26: The Finnish Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)                serverless cloud-computing services, generally referred to
satellite operator, ICEYE, unveiled imagery with a 25-cen-          as “Serverless Supercomputing”. Through this innovative
timeter resolution using its small satellites constellation         system, the company optimizes the processing system, is
composed of 3 units. With this achievement, ICEYE is now            able to face the increase number of data received daily
able to offer the same resolution class provided by larger          and provides a comprehensive picture of the Earth’s envi-
commercial SAR satellites at their highest performance.             ronment to its customers.

                                                               13
Section 6
                                           Satellite operations
                                           and launch

■ Capella Space and Rocket Lab to launch mid-inclination                decided to move the satellite to Rocket Lab as a result of
  radar satellite                                                       adjusting the launch timing and the orbit of the unit. The
                                                                        startup expects to use its Arianespace contract for the launch
March 5: Capella Space will send one of its Synthetic Aperture
                                                                        of another future satellite instead.
Radar (SAR) satellites into a mid-inclination orbit in 2020 on
a Rocket Lab Electron launch vehicle.
                                                                        The StriX-α SAR satellite will be sent in orbit in late 2020
                                                                        on board an Electron rocket from New Zealand. Terms of
This launch will send the first commercial SAR satellite in a
                                                                        the launch contract were not disclosed. The 150-kilogram
mid-inclination orbit. The operation will provide crucial data
                                                                        satellite will be the only payload on the Electro rocket,
to customers who wants to monitor areas around Korea, the
                                                                        giving Synspective greater control over the launch schedule
Middle East and some portions of Europe and North America.
                                                                        and orbit for the satellite. StriX-α will be the first unit of a
                                                                        constellation of about 25 SAR satellites designed to provide
Capella’s 100-kilogram SAR satellite will be the primary
                                                                        geospatial data products.
payload on the Electron launch. The two companies did not
disclose the cost of this dedicated launch but it is expected
                                                                        ■ Launch of an Iranian Earth observation military satellite
to be significantly more expensive than a rideshare mission.
                                                                        April 22: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)
                                                                        announced that it had launched a military satellite in a Sun-
     ■ The launch of UAE’s Falcon Eye 2 satellite is                    synchronous orbit (SSO) on board a previously unknown launch
       delayed                                                          vehicle called Qassed. The military satellite is potentially an
                                                                        Earth observation satellite, or some other kind of intelligence
March 6: The launch of UAE’s Falcon Eye 2 satellite has
                                                                        gathering system. However, the satellite, called Noor, is
been pushed back from its March 6 launch data due to a
                                                                        expected to have limited resolution given the relatively small
malfunction on the Soyuz’s Fregat-M upper stage. Falcon
                                                                        size of the launch vehicle. There is a possibility, however, that
Eye-2 is the second reconnaissance satellite built by Thales
                                                                        Noor is a technology demonstrator.
Alenia Space for the United Arab Emirates. The first satellite
was destroyed in July 2019 following Arianespace’s Vega
                                                                        The satellite was launched from the Shahroud base which has
rocket failure.
                                                                        never been previously used for satellite launches. This choice
                                                                        demonstrates that the country has two space programs, one
The mission will be delayed to at least September 2020 due
                                                                        civil led by the Iran Space Agency (ISA) and the second is
to an upper stage issue; in any case, due to the coronavirus
                                                                        military in nature, run by the IRGC.
pandemic, the Guiana Space Center in Kourou has ceased
major operations until further notice.

■ Rocket Lab will launch a SAR satellite for Japanese startup
  Synspective
April 14: The Japanese synthetic aperture radar (SAR)
company, Synspective, announced it will launch its first
satellite with Rocket Lab, after initially selecting Arianespace
for this mission. The Japanese spacecraft was slated to fly as
a rideshare payload on a Vega launch in 2020. However, due
to delays caused by a Vega failure in July 2019, the company

      Covid-19 related

                                                                   14
Section 7
                                       Downstream
                                       Activities / Services

    ■ Data collected by the Copernicus Sentinel-5P                 The platform is an open and flexible solution hosting tools,
      showing a drop in pollution across Europe                    data, and information derived from different sources,
                                                                   including crowd-sourced, in-site and from satellites. It is
March 27: The Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite mapping air
                                                                   designed to support research, high-level decision making
pollution in Europe and in China has revealed a significant
                                                                   and rapid response to critical emergencies. The platform
diminution of nitrogen dioxide concentrations coinciding
                                                                   will also facilitate authorities to manage future outbreaks
with the quarantine measures. This drop is even more
                                                                   making it possible to prepare mitigation plans in advance
important in major cities such as Paris, Madrid and Milan.
                                                                   and allow industry actors to build business solutions to
                                                                   manage the potential outbreak consequences.
Such results have been identified by scientists from
the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI)
                                                                   The platform developers will tailor the platform to
using the satellite to monitor both pollution and weather
                                                                   different users, including scientists, government actors,
over the European continent. The satellite images have
                                                                   local authorities and the public.
been analyzed across the 14 to 25 March period as the
nitrogen dioxide concentrations vary from day to day and
                                                                   ■ Creation of the HAPS Alliance supporting the
conclusions cannot be thus drawn based on just one day
                                                                     development of high altitude vehicles
of data alone.
                                                                   February 21: A group of global industry leaders form
This analysis demonstrates the crucial importance of both          the HAPS Alliance, as association of world-leading
the partnerships established between ESA and cooperated            telecommunications, technology, aviation and aerospace
organizations, such as KNMI, and the Copernicus program.           companies. The creation of the HAPS Alliance follows a
                                                                   previous announcement made in April 2019 by HAPSMobile
    ■ The Copernicus Climate Change Service develops               and Loon forming a strategic alliance to advance the use
      the COVID Climate Toolbox platform                           of high altitude vehicles.
April 12: Members of the Copernicus Climate Change
                                                                   The newly formed alliance is composed a great number
Service (C3S), with funding from the EU, have developed a
                                                                   of stakeholders including Nokia Corporation, SoftBank
platform to help scientists, governments and the general
                                                                   Corp., Telefonica S.A., HAPSMobile, Loon, China Telecom
public to navigate the COVID-19 emergency by providing
                                                                   Corporation Limited and Airbus Defence and Space.
free and open high-quality data to allow to study the
relation between climatic, epidemiological and socio-
                                                                   Through this alliance, members can collectively advocate
economic data and enable actors to make pragmatic
                                                                   for High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) business
decisions during the pandemic.
                                                                   development with the relevant authorities in various
                                                                   countries, develop common product specifications
The platform will host high quality data and information
                                                                   and promote the standardization of HAPS network
together with software tools permitting the user to
                                                                   interoperability.
manipulate and visualize data and also compose
information into a storyline to share findings.

     Covid-19 related

                                                              15
■ CloudFerro partners with CG Satellite to provide very            verticals by mixing the elements of historical time lapse
  high-resolution satellite imagery                                with the frequency of geospatial imagery.
March 6: The Polish cloud computing service provider
                                                                   Using Planet’s datasets and historical time lapse features,
CloudFerro has established a cooperation agreement
                                                                   Seisan will supplement data transformation techniques and
with CG Satellite, a Chinese operator. CloudFerro already
                                                                   traditional systems integration. The company will be able to
operates cloud platforms providing Earth observation
                                                                   provide greater machine learning imagery analysis services
satellite imagery. With this new cooperation, the Polish
                                                                   for its customers and to achieve previously unattainable
company will now provide both video and images in very
                                                                   levels of imagery detail on a daily basis. The final products
high resolution, taken at night and day. The company will
                                                                   will disrupt multiple sectors and offer greater insights from
have access to the operator’s archives covering the period
                                                                   location data, enabling businesses to increase productivity,
from 2016, and new images will be shared regularly.
                                                                   situational awareness and reduce operational costs.
The resolution of the imagery provided by the Chinese
                                                                        ■ OGC members publish their resources to face the
operator is up to 72 centimeters. The images are taken
                                                                          pandemic crisis
by CG Satellite’s Jilin-1 constellation and consist in both
pictures and 4k video of maximum 60 seconds.                       April 2: To face COVID-19, Open Geospatial Consortium
                                                                   (OGC) members have been publishing resources to inform
These very accurate images will enable clients to develop          their customers, governments and the public at large. OGC
their abilities in object recognition and identification of        is an international consortium composed of more than 499
changes in objects. These skills are crucial in mapping,           businesses, agencies, research organizations and university
mining planning or for risk assessment in the insurance            making geospatial information and services accessible.
and banking industry. CloudFerro also provides to its
customers an infrastructure in the form of cloud services,         Data provided will help the authorities to take the appro-
named CREODIAS, allowing various analysis without                  priate decisions and to keep their citizens informed during
having to deal with infrastructure complexity.                     the crisis. These OGC members include the Group on Earth
                                                                   Observations, UK Geospatial Commission, Heidelberg Uni-
    ■ European mobile carriers share data to fight                 versity, ESRI Canada, etc.
      against the virus pandemic
                                                                        ■ China uses satellites to combat COVID-19
March 18: In Italy, Germany and Austria, mobile operators
share data with health authorities to help fighting                April 8: China has used satellite imagery to help fighting the
COVID-19 by monitoring whether citizens are complying              pandemic crisis. GaoFen, a constellation of high-resolution
with regulations while respecting European privacy laws.           Earth observation satellites, continuously monitored the
                                                                   construction of hospitals built at breakneck pace. The
Data donated by mobile carriers as Deutsche Telekom                data collected were supplemented by the information
or Vodafone have offered authorities to monitor people’s           given by Zhuhai- hyperspectral imaging satellite and ESA’s
movements. The data collected are anonymous and aggre-             Sentinel-1. The Wuhan University analyzed multiple data
gated to enable map concentrations. These tools are com-           sources to identify which site would be best suitable for
pliant with EU privacy rulebook the General Data Protec-           the hospitals.
tion Regulation and thus less invasive than the approach
adopted in other countries such as South Korea which use           Another satellite has helped to create the geographical
smartphone location to trace the contacts of individuals           reach of the virus and enabled citizens to find out the dis-
who have tested positive.                                          tance between the citizens and active infection. TFSTAR,
                                                                   a second-generation AI satellite designed by the Satellite
■ Planet partners with Seisan                                      Technology Research Center of University of Electronic
                                                                   Science and Technology of China (UESTC) and ADA-Space,
March 24: The satellite operator, Planet has partnered
                                                                   enables powerful analytics and processing. Combined with
with Seisan, a custom software solutions and systems
                                                                   geocoding, the satellite makes it possible to obtain a visu-
integration company specializing in leveraging geospatial
                                                                   alization of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
technologies. Such cooperation will allow Seisan to provide
next-level competitive advantages into many industry

     Covid-19 related

                                                              16
■ NASA reveals drop in air pollution in India following
       the COVID-19 pandemic
April 21 – The U.S. space agency has identified a huge drop
in aerosol levels in India since March 25, date on which the
government decided to impose the world’s largest lock-
down. This analysis is based on measurements taken by the
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)
on NASA’s Terra satellite.

After just a week of strict lockdown, NASA sensors detected
aerosol levels at a 20-year low for this time of year in the
northern part of the country. These results demonstrate the
importance of satellites during the crisis giving the oppor-
tunity to study how natural and human sources of aerosols
affect the atmosphere.

     ■ BlackSky is offering remote access to its global
       monitoring services and satellite imaging during
       the pandemic crisis
April 22 – Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there is cur-
rently a significant demand for telework tools and minute
intelligence. Many intelligence analysts are used to working
in secure facilities and cannot have access to tools they
need as they are forced to teleworking during the crisis,
partly due to security concerns.

In response, BlackSky, the Geospatial intelligence provider,
is offering remote access to its satellite imaging and its
global monitoring services. The company’s telework pack-
age, named Spectra On-Demand Secure Bundle, was espe-
cially designed for these workers who handle unclassified
but still sensitive information. The package provides access
to BlackSky’s satellites for tasking as well as other satel-
lites for tasking and archiving data. It also includes training
on the methodology involved in capturing data. The product
can be accessed from any computer enabling analysts to
achieve their unclassified work from home. However, classi-
fied operations are still achieved in secure facilities.

      Covid-19 related

                                                                  17
Annex I
                                   List of Key Events
                                   and Conferences

Legend of events icons                                                                 The event has been cancelled

                                                                                       The event dates have been modified
     Events focused                  Events related to diverse space
     on EO matters                   matters including EO ones                         New / existing events which have been
                                                                                       transformed into online only conferences

           Importance of the Event                                         Speakers – public sector

                                                                       High-level          A high-level speaker in the
       Large event      More than 500 attendees                        speakers in the     governmental sphere refers
                                                                       governmental        to a position of minister (or
                                                                       sphere              equivalent) or army chief.
                  Event category
                                                                           Speakers – space agency
                        Conferences focused on new
       R&D
                        technologies                                                       Conferences of interest for
                                                                       High-level
                                                                       speakers in         the defence departments of
                        Conferences focused on civil                   the space           States including geospatial
                        security matters as disaster                   agency sector
       Security                                                                            matters
                        management, humanitarian
                        aid, etc.                                                   Delegates list
                        Conferences of interest for the
       Defence and                                                                         Publicly available list of par-
       intelligence     defence departments of States                  List of
                        including geospatial matters                   delegates           ticipants / delegates on the
                                                                       available           official website of the event
                        Conferences focused on
       Maritime                                                                Need for speakers
                        maritime matters
                                                                                           Public call for speakers for
                     Frequency                                         Call for            the event, ongoing and open
                                                                       speakers            at the time the report is
                        Conference or event organ-
        One-time        ized only once, not annually                                       published.
        conference
                        or regularly repeating                                    Paper abstracts
                   Programme                                                               Call for abstracts refers to
                        Free availability of the                       Call for            the calls still ongoing and
       Programme        programme on the official                      abstracts           open at the time the report
       available                                                                           is published.
                        website of the event

          Speakers – private sector                                        Exhibition Opportunities

                        A high-level speaker in the                                        Call for exhibitors refers to
       High-level
       speakers in      private sector refers to a                     Calls for           a call still ongoing and open
       the private      C-level in a large multination-                exhibitors          at the time the report is
       sector           al company.                                                        published.

                                                       18
List of Key Events and Conferences

SPIE Photonics Europe                                                    36th Space Symposium

       29 March - 2 April                 Strasbourg,                           30 March -                         Colorado,
       2020                               France                                2 April                            US

Enables engineers and researchers to collaborate with                    The Space Symposium is considered to be the premier
European leading companies in various innovative fields                  international gathering of space professionals, offering
including lasers, imaging, sensing etc.                                  sessions, speakers, and panels covering all aspects of space.

                                                Postponed                                                                      Postponed
                                                6 - 10 Apr                                                                     31 Oct -
                                                Digital forum                                                                  2 Nov

Geospatial World Forum                                                   GEOINT Symposium

       7 - 9 April                        Amsterdam,                            26 - 27 April                      Tampa,
       2020                               the Netherlands                       2020                               US

The 12th edition of the conference will advocate for technology          The event brings together keynote speakers, panel discussions
innovation and practices in the geospatial industry, highlighting        and sessions around geospatial issues involving government,
the value of geospatial technology and its integration with              military and private-sector leaders. The 2020 theme is “New
emerging technologies such as 5G, AI, Autonomous Vehicles, Big           Decade. New Challenges. New Strategies.”
Data, Cloud, IoT and LiDAR in various user industries.

                                                     Cancelled                                                               Cancelled

                                                                         CompTIA and Space Foundation –
Webikeo – Mews Digital Days – Imagerie                                   Ready to fight : How the space industry is
satellite et services de géo-infomation                                  leading the charge to combat COVID-19

       29 April                                                                 20 - 21 May
                                          –                                                                        –
       2020                                                                     2020

The webinar focuses on the emergence of constellations and               Leaders in satellite communications and imagery, logistics and
related technologies such as cloud computing and machine                 data analytics will explain how their companies are partnering
learning offering new opportunities in various fields such as            with federal, state and local government who are depending
security or the protection of the environment. The conference will       upon the U.S. space industry to help combat COVID-19 and
be focused on the digital services offered by Airbus DS Geo.             support affected communities.

                                                   Webinar                                                                     Webinar
                                                   (In French)

                                                                    19
List of Key Events and Conferences

EARSC EOcafe: Food security                                              AITC 2020 – Arctic International
in the time of CoVid!                                                    Technical Conference

       30 April                                                                  14 - 15 May                        Nuuk,
                                          –
       2020                                                                      2020                               Greenland

The European Association of Remote Sensing Companies is                  The international conference gathers experts mapping the arctic
organizing a second EOcafe to discuss the impact of COVID-19             ranging from ice-free land, sea-ice inland to permafrost. Various
on the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors.                      subjects will be covered as shipping, geo-sciences, surveillance
                                                                         and meteorology.

                                                                                                                              Postponed
                                                      Webinar                                                                 28 Sept -
                                                                                                                              1 Oct

                                                                         SCI-239 Research Specialists’ Meeting
GEO Business 2020                                                        (RSM) on ‘Capabilities for Sensing,
                                                                         Search and Surveillance in the Arctic’

       20 - 21 May                        London,                                                                   Nuuk,
                                                                                 26 - 27 May 2020
       2020                               England                                                                   Greenland

Dedicated to actors who store, process and deliver                       This Research Specialists’ Meeting (RSM) will gather specialists
geospatial information.                                                  to discuss about the capacities for sensing, search and
                                                                         surveillance in the Arctic in order to enhance the capability of
                                                                         the NATO S&T community and respond to NATO requirements.

                                                Postponed                                                                     Postponed
                                                24 - 25 Sept                                                                  TBD

EO for agriculture under pressure                                        A Changing Arctic

       25 - 29 May                        Frascati,                              2 - 5 June                         Tromsø,
       2020                               Italy                                  2020                               Norway

The workshop will gather experts in EO for agriculture, end-users        The conference deals with a wide range of subjects linked with
and stakeholders as NGOs, agro-insurances or food agencies to            Arctic including climate range and will welcome discussions
discuss the role of EO for improving food security.                      on needs for future monitoring systems and satellite remote
                                                                         sensing products.

                                                     Postponed                                                                Postponed
                                                     TBD                                                                      TBD

                                                                    20
List of Key Events and Conferences

                                                                           International Conference on Advances
Military Space USA Conference                                              in Satellite and Space Missions

        9 - 10 June                         Los Angeles,                          15-16 June                          London,
        2020                                US                                    2020                                United Kingdom

The conference will be focus on disruptive technologies which              The event will host scientists and researchers, space agency
are critical for the DoD including in the Earth Observation sector.        executives, Earth science researchers, spacecraft and satellite
                                                                           engineers and more to be informed about the latest space
                                                                           technologies and achievements. The conference covers different
                                                                           aspects related to Space Missions, Remote spatial sensing & GIS,
                                                                           Earth Science Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Advances
                                                                           in Antenna Technology, Military Satellites and more.
                                                     Postponed                                              Webinar
                                                     8 - 9 Jun                                              Covid-19 impact: Rundown of
                                                     2021                                                   Space Science and exploration

EXPANDEO                                                                   ESA – EO for Polar Science Workshop

        17 - 18 June                        Brussels,                             17 - 19 June                        Copenhagen,
        2020                                Belgium                               2020                                Denmark

EXPANDEO is the annual conference of EARSC, the European                   The workshop will assess the latest advancement in the use
Association of Remote Sensing Companies. This year,                        of Earth Observation technology for Polar science, explore the
EXPANDEO is focusing on Climate Change.                                    main challenges and opportunities for the coming decade and
                                                                           define a common scientific agenda for the future.

                                                                                                                              Postponed
                                                                                                                              28 - 30 Oct

Canadian Symposium                                                         43rd COSPAR Scientific Assembly
on Remote Sensing

        13 - 17 July                        Yellowknife,                          15 - 22 August                      Sydney,
        2020                                Canada                                2020                                Australia

The theme of this year is “Landscapes of Change; Remote                    The theme of the 2020 Assembly is “Connecting Space Research
Sensing for a Sustainable Future”. The symposium will cover a              for Global Impact”. The aim of the conference is to support the
wide range of technical, applied and natural sciences topics and           international space science community.
will include special sessions dedicated to remote sensing of
environmental change.
                                             In-person Symposium                                                           Postponed
                               Webinar       postponed                                                                     28 Jan - 4 Feb
                                             21 - 25 Jun 2021                                                              2021

                                                                      21
List of Key Events and Conferences

Summit on Earth Observation                                           SPIE Europe’s Remote Sensing
Business                                                              Symposium

       16-18 September                    Paris,                             21-24 September                    Edinburgh,
       2020                               France                             2020                               United Kingdom

For ten years now, the Summit on Earth Observation Business           The event gathers researchers, engineers and scientists involved
has welcomed the most inspiring, forward thinking and influential     in the EO sector and focuses on next generation satellites,
leaders of the satellite imagery and geospatial solutions sector.     atmospheric propagation and imaging analytics.

                                                   Postponed
                                                   9 - 12 Nov
                                                   2020

71st IAC 2019                                                         Space Tech Expo

       12-16 October                      Dubai,                             17 - 19 November                   Bremen,
       2020                               UAE                                2020                               Germany

Annual congress gathering a large number of space stakeholders        Space Tech Expo Europe is a B2B trade event for aerospace
divided into 40 administrative and technical committees to            and related industry professionals/government/academia.
advance space knowledge and develop future space projects.            The event is described as the continent’s major dedicated
                                                                      supply-chain and engineering event for manufacturing, design
                                                                      and engineering services for spacecraft, subsystems and
                                                                      space-qualified components.

                                                   Postponed
                                                   TBD

                                                                 22
Annex II
                                       Selected satellites launched
                                       in the period March to April
                                       2020

     GEO-KOMPSAT-2B                     Yaogan 30-06-01/ CX-5 16               Yaogan 30-06-02 / CX-5 17
          Operator: KARI                       Operator: PLA People’s                 Operator: PLA People’s
 Operator status: Government Civil                 Liberation Army                        Liberation Army
      Country: South Korea              Operator status: Government Defence    Operator status: Government Defence
         Payload: Optical                           Country: China                         Country: China
                                                  Payload: Security                      Payload: Security

          Launch date:                             Launch date:                           Launch date:
        18 February 2020                          24 March 2020                          24 March 2020

                                         Yaogan 30-06-01 to 30-06-03 is         Yaogan 30-06-01 to 30-06-03 is
  Features the GOCI-II imager and
                                         the sixth triplet of reconnaissance    the sixth triplet of reconnaissance
  the GEMS sensor to monitor the
                                             satellites designed for the            satellites designed for the
     environment and oceans.
                                             Chuangxin-5 constellation.             Chuangxin-5 constellation.

Yaogan 30-06-03 / CX-5 18                             TDO-2                                  Noor 1
       Operator: PLA People’s                  Operator: US Air Force            Operator: Islamic Revolutionary
           Liberation Army              Operator status: Government Defence             Guard Corp (IRGC)
Operator status: Government Defence            Country: United States          Operator status: Government Defence
            Country: China                        Payload: Security                        Country: Iran
          Payload: Security                                                              Payload: Security

           Launch date:                            Launch date:                           Launch date:
          24 March 2020                           26 March 2020                           22 April 2020

 Yaogan 30-06-01 to 30-06-03 is          TDO-2 is a small satellite carrying
 the sixth triplet of reconnaissance     multiple U.S. government payloads        The cubesat Noor-1 is the first
     satellites designed for the        to support space domain awareness      indigenous Iranian military satellite.
     Chuangxin-5 constellation.            through optical calibration and            No details are known.
                                               satellite laser ranging.

  Launched

  Confirmed

  Exact date unknown

                                                        23
Annex II
                                        Selected satellites to be launched
                                        in the period May to September
                                        2020

     Pléiades-VHR 1 & 2                           Falcon Eye 2                             Capella 3
 Operator: Airbus GEO-Intelligence FR     Operator: MoD Abu Dhabi Emirate            Operator: Capella Space
    Operator status: Commercial          Operator status: Government Defense       Operator status: Commercial
           Country: France                  Country: United Arab Emirates             Country: United States
           Payload: Optical                        Payload: Optical                       Payload: SAR

             Launch date:                           Launch date:                           Launch date:
              June 2020                           September 2020                         September 2020

Feature an imager with 30 cm ground                                             Equipped with a sensor aperture for
                                          Features the HiRI imaging system
resolution and will use TesatSpacecom                                             the X-band SAR providing high-
                                          with a ground resolution of 70 cm
 laser communication relay terminals                                            contrast, low-noise, high-resolution
                                                across a 20 km swath.
            to transfer data.                                                         sub-0.5 meter imagery.

        ResourceSat-3                           ResourceSat-3S                     Feng Yun-4C, -3F, 4B
           Operator: ISRO                          Operator: ISRO                 Operator: China Meteorological
  Operator status: Government Civil       Operator status: Government Civil               Administration
           Country: India                          Country: India                Operator status: Government Civil
          Payload: Optical                        Payload: Optical                        Country: China
                                                                                      Payload: Meteorology

            Launch date:                            Launch date:                          Launch date:
          September 2020                          September 2020                   2020 (Exact date unknown)

                                          Carries the LISS-V high resolution      A 5.3-ton GEO meteo satellite to
 Carries the ALISS-III imaging multi-
                                            optical imager and the APAN        provide improved weather forecasting
 spectral radiometer and the ATCOR
                                            panchromatic high-resolution          and a substantial contribution to
   high resolution optical imager.
                                                    optical imager.                 space weather applications.

  Launched

  Confirmed

  Exact date unknown

                                                         24
Annex II
                                       Selected satellites to be launched
                                       in the period May to September
                                       2020

                                             CosmoSkymed 2nd                          Flock 2g (x5) &
         CartoSat-3A                           Generation 2                             Flock 2i (x1)
         Operator: ISRO                        Operator: Italian MoD                    Operator: Planet
Operator status: Government Civil       Operator status: Government Defense        Operator status: Commercial
         Country: India                             Country: Italy                   Country: United States
        Payload: Optical                            Payload: SAR                        Payload: Optical

          Launch date:                             Launch date:                          Launch date:
   2020 (Exact date unknown)                2020 (Exact date unknown)             2020 (Exact date unknown)

 0.25m resolution panchromatic,         An upgraded, more powerful follow-on
                                                                                Provides global coverage with daily
 multispectral and hyperspectral          to CosmoSkymed, with 8 different
                                                                               revisit. Strong partnership with NGA.
    earth observation mission.          capture modes and 0.35m resolution.

          Landsat-9                                  Taranis                             GHGSat C1
 Operator: USGS (United States                     Operator: CNES                     Operator: GHG Global
       Geological Survey)                 Operator status: Government Civil           Emissions Monitoring
Operator status: Government Civil                 Country: France                  Operator status: Commercial
           Country: US                            Payload: Optical                      Country: Canada
        Payload: Optical                                                                Payload: Optical

          Launch date:                             Launch date:                          Launch date:
   2020 (Exact date unknown)                2020 (Exact date unknown)             2020 (Exact date unknown)

                                                                                    Precursor to a commercial
Will largely replicate the functions         Will study magnetosphere-           constellation of greenhouse gas
of its predecessor Landsat 8. 30m         ionosphere-atmosphere coupling        monitoring satellites demonstrating
  resolution on 8 spectral bands,             via transient processes.         an advanced miniature hyperspectral
panchromatic with 15m resolution.
                                                                                   SWIR imaging spectrometer.

Launched

Confirmed

Exact date unknown

                                                        25
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