Space applications can transform the maritime domains, by providing data and information that will foster a sustainable blue economy, and help protecting the ocean and preserving its resources. CNES wants to be at the forefront of the creation of a global “Sea & Space” strategy that federates public and private stakeholders to put science at the service of society.

The 4^th episode of the Eurisy Members’ Corner series was animated by Ariel Fucks, heading the maritime strategy of the Connect by CNES programme.

Mr Fucks virtually participated from Lisbon, on the last day of the UN Ocean Conference, this year dedicated to the theme “Scaling up ocean action based on science and innovation for the implementation of Goal 14: stocktaking, partnerships and solutions.”

Following the directions of the French government, CNES works with public and private actors to implement innovation strategies in some key sectors of the national economy. These include the monitoring and protection of the environment, the promotion of smart mobility and of a sustainable agriculture, and the strengthening of maritime activities that preserve the natural environment, among others.

To reach out to organisations outside the space sector, CNES has launched the Connect-by-CNES programme, which aims to open up the potential of space technologies and solutions to the entire national economy.

Targeted stakeholders represent a varied ecosystem, including ministries, public administrations at the national, regional and local levels, start-ups and SMEs, large industrial groups, research centres, innovation hubs, and civil society organisations.

At the international level, CNES collaborates on programmes aimed at enhancing the use of space applications with a number of organisations, including European institutions, other national governments (such as the USA, Singapore, India, and Australia), and international organisations.

The Space Climate Observatory is an international initiative proposed by France in 2019 to support the emergence of operational tools for climate monitoring, mitigation and adaptation, addressed to decision-makers and the wide public. CNES is the entity in charge of implementing the SCO in France and of inspiring the implementation of similar models in other countries.

The SCO France is managed by a committee made up of 22 French public entities operating in the field of climate action, including the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Solidarity.

To use scientific advancements to monitor and protect the seas and the ocean, CNES has a strategy based on four pillars: smart routing, maritime surveillance, port management, and ecosystem surveillance.

Smart routing is today flourishing, with a lot of efforts being put into the development of next generation automated navigation systems. These not only rely on satellite navigation for positioning, but also on satellite remote sensing for data on sea currents, weather, and winds, to allow sailors to choose the routes that will require the least amount of energy.

Watch the video by Eurisy and CNES on the use of Copernicus data made by a French SME to reduce the carbon footprint of ships:

Maritime surveillance is profiting from scientific advancements to better monitor protected areas and fight illegal fishing, which represents a major threat to biodiversity and to the economic sustainability of fishery. Images from satellites and data collected through in-situ observations (geolocated thanks to satellite navigation) provide a big amount of reliable information on the status of our seas and environments. Coastal authorities rely on satellite navigation to monitor illegal fishery, while new apps are being created that use data from satellite imagery to know where to fish and satellite navigation signals to track the position of fishermen at sea.

Port management concerns the monitoring of vessels’ movements, for which satellite navigation systems are already widely used, and the monitoring of pollution.

Interactions between the environment and human activities can also be assessed and monitored by using satellite data. As an example, satellites provide data useful to capture and monitor environmental parameters within and around ports, which can be particularly useful during port infrastructure works.

Watch the video realised by Eurisy and CNES on the use of Copernicus data during the enlargement works in the harbour of Port-la-Nouvelle, in southern France:

CNES has a continuous dialogue with public and private organisations in the maritime domains on ways to foster the development and use of services based on satellite data and signals.

Collaboration with external entities is key for CNES to decide on its strategic orientations, to understand the needs of public and private organisations operating in the maritime sector that could benefit from satellite-based data and signals, and to create common endeavours for the development of services more and more adapted to the operational needs of those working in sectors linked to the seas and the oceans.

The Copernicus Earth observation programme plays a major role in enabling such collaborations, providing a huge amount of free and open data that we can use to monitor the oceans.

Mercator Ocean, the entity currently in charge of implementing the Copernicus Marine Monitoring Service has recently become international, to better serve the needs of the EC for data providing and data processing, also in view of the implementation of the digital twin of the ocean, a scientific tool that is really meant to meet concrete needs of actors operating in the maritime domains.

In this context, Eurisy participates to the consortium implementing the Iliad project (Integrated digital framework for comprehensive maritime data and information services), that aims to establish an interoperable, data-intensive, and cost-effective Digital Twin of the Ocean (DTO).

Freshly returned from the Euromaritime congress held in Marseille on 28-30 June, where Eurisy and CNES coorganised a roundtable on space solutions for a sustainable Blue Economy, Alessandra Vernile, from the Eurisy secretariat, confirmed the clear interest of the French space community to activate scientific discoveries to the profit of the maritime sector, and of the great interest of the maritime community towards satellite applications tracking ships and containers.

Several examples of how satellite data can sustain the blue economy while contributing to safeguarding the oceans can be found in the new edition of the Eurisy periodical publication Satellites Going Local dedicated to the maritime domains.

If you are in Paris, you might be interested in attending the 1ʳᵉ edition of the “Assises du NewSpace”, taking place on July 7 and 8 at Station F. The event has the dual objective of establishing a state of the art of the NewSpace market in France, and of drawing together growth prospects to structure and consolidate a French NewSpace, in view of promoting it internationally within five years.

To know more about the activities of CNES visit: https://cnes.fr/en

The presentation of the webinar is available here: Presentation-ConnectbyCNES eurisy

Stay tuned for the next webinar of the Eurisy Members’ Corner that will be hosted by the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) on the 16th of September 2022 between 11:00 AM and 12:00 AM CET.

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For 17 years, the Galileo Masters has been fostering the development of new technology and business cases, service delivery and applications based on Galileo. This year’s edition offers topic challenges includes the opportunity to also integrate the use of Earth observation data.

From 19 April to 19 July 2021, participants in the Galileo Masters 2021 can submit their innovative ideas using GNSS data to solve challenges offered by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), the German Aerospace Center (DLR) together with the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) and the European Space Agency (ESA).

Eligible to participate are enterprises, including SMEs, start-ups, scientific institutions, and individuals of legal adult age, which have the ambition to tackle challenges faced by business and society, by using space data and technologies.

In addition, the Galileo Masters is complemented by the Galileo Incubation programme, co-funded by the European Commission to empower the transformation of great business cases into commercially viable solutions through a tailored business incubation programme. The top six winners of the Galileo Masters 2021 will gain access to this incubation prize of up to EUR 62,000 each if eligible.

Eurisy as a Copernicus and Galileo Masters Regional Associate is proud to support the awarding of innovative solutions, developments and ideas that use satellite data to tackle challenges faced by business and society. By encouraging new ideas, as well as through the promotion of operational applications, Eurisy aims to raise awareness of the benefits of space data for end users.

Find out more about the special awards provided by Bulgaria as a prize partner:

• Galileo Prize Bulgaria

For registrations:

• Galileo Masters

For more information: contact office@rst-tto.com, or visit http://rst-tto.com

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The Copernicus Masters is the leading innovation competition for commercial Earth observation (EO) applications. Open for submissions until 19 July 2021, the competition awards prizes to innovative solutions, services, and business concepts that use Earth observation data to solve important societal and environmental challenges. With more than EUR 835,000 worth of prizes, there is an opportunity for great minds to boost their business with big data from space.
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Eurisy as a Copernicus Masters Regional Associate 2021 is proud to support the awarding of innovative solutions, developments and ideas that use EO data to tackle challenges faced by business and society. As a regional associate we are part of the constantly growing EO community as well as the EO business ecosystem.

In 2021, the Copernicus Masters offers participants a diverse range of topic-specific challenges to tackle global challenges with their competition entries. The 8 competition partners – European Space Agency (ESA), the European Commission (COM), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Planet, BayWa, UP42 with Airbus, the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) and Portugal Space (Portuguese Space Agency) – have each established unique challenges for the participants, with individual prize pools designed to support the winner to further develop its solution.

Again this year, besides the topic-specific challenges, participants also have the opportunity to also choose a regional or country-related Copernicus Prize Partner – powered by the European Commission – who can best support their innovations. In addition, the Copernicus Prize Partners award extra prizes to their winner. Discover more here!

Submit your innovative Satellite Navigation application to the Galileo Masters

The Galileo Masters annually awards prizes to the best services, products, and business concepts that use satellite navigation in everyday life, spurring the development of respective market-driven applications. Open for submissions until 19 July 2021, the competition awards prizes to innovative solutions at each development stage, with the objective of turning them into real businesses. With more than EUR 785,000 worth of prizes, there is an opportunity for great minds to boost their business with Galileo/EGNOS.
Read More!

Eurisy as a Galileo Masters Regional Associate 2021 is proud to support the awarding of innovative solutions, developments and ideas that use satellite navigation data to tackle challenges faced by business and society.

The 2021 Galileo Masters offers participants a diverse range of topic-specific challenges to tackle global challenges with their competition entries. The competition’s partners, the European GNSS Agency (GSA), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI), the European Space Agency (ESA) and AZO – the organiser of the competition – have each set participants unique challenges, with individual prize pools designed to support the winner to further develop its solution.

Again this year, besides the topic-specific challenges, participants have also the opportunity to choose a regional or country-related Galileo Prize Partner – powered by the European Commission – who can best support their innovations. In addition, the Galileo Prize Partners award extra prizes to their winner. Discover more here!

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1. With a little help from our friends (the pigeons!)

French start-up PlumeLabs, Twitter and DigitasLBi have joined creative forces and launched a team of 10 pigeons carrying interconnected sensors, to monitor air pollution in London. The App is available on Android and Apple here. You can track the little Pigeon Air Police in real-time here. Moreover, if you Tweet them your area of London @PigeonAir they’ll tell you how polluted it is!

2. Satellites, monitoring your beer since 2016!

B. United International, a beer company, is using satnav and satcom to guarantee to its customers that their beverage of choice will taste exactly the the same on arrival in the U.S. as when they left the brewery in their country of origin, for a trip around the globe. Read more here.

3. Satellites help save lives on a hospital ship

Texas-based NGO, Mercy Ships, uses #SatCom to connect volunteering medical staff on its floating hospital with patients in poor, difficult to access areas. In the future it is expected that video could be used more extensively for training African healthcare workers. Read more about the NGOs life saving missions and get involved here.

4. In Space we trust !

Russian Advertising Company AILove teamed up with Roscosmos in celebrating humankind’s achievements in space, from from Sputnik 1 through to Yuri Gagarin’s historical orbital flight to Philae’s comet landing. Powered by imagination and our natural curiosity the journey takes us further and deeper into our solar system. New Horizon flew by Pluto in July 2015 after a journey that took the spacecraft 9 years and 6 months .The probe is set to venture even deeper into the distant, mysterious Kuiper Belt – a relic of solar system formation. Your space suits await here!

5. Access Earth’s wild scenery through Virtual Reality

Catalog.Earth, a project aiming to document the world’s landscapes most endangered by climate change in 360° video and audio, takes off thanks to a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. It started as an immersive data experiment relying on NASA’s satellite images. It’s now a race against time to document the fastest changing landscapes around the world.
The project founders, two interaction design grad students, aim to make the footage public domain for everyone to access. First stop: the quickly-shrinking Columbia Glacier in Alaska! Simulations look promising@ ixdavid.github.io

6. Sentinel 1B launch — another milestone for Copernicus

Sentinel 1B lifted off on 25 April to join its twin Sentinel 1A in orbit. On this occasion, four CubeSats (as small as 10 cm) also hitched a ride to space. Equipped with advanced radar technology, the satellites will add valuable data to Europe’s Copernicus environment programme. The two satellites will provide 360 degree radar coverage to support numerous ground operations such as: monitoring ice in polar seas to tracking land subsidence. How will this influence our daily lives? A short story below:

7. Ever gazed up at the night sky and wondered: Where is everyone? Welcome to the Fermi Paradox!

According to scientists for every grain of sand on every beach on Earth, there are 10,000 stars out there. Out of which, a new PNAS study assumes that our vast universe contains a total of 100 billion billion Earth-like planets. How many of these would be able to develop life conditions similar to Earth? If are to follow statistics…many. So where are the others? To put things into perspective click here.

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Although variability mitigation is indeed a very beneficial part of precision farming, that part is still under development as the report also points out. The part of precision farming that is already operational and successfully implemented on many farms is the use of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Farmers benefit substantially from machine guidance and optimising field traffic – either in logistics or dealing with field geometry.

GNSS adoption rates in agriculture are growing. In the Netherlands a recent survey showed that 65% of the arable farms use GNSS in their operations. Similar figures have been published in Germany. UK and Denmark have a penetration of approximately 20%. In UK the bias towards larger farms means that already 60% of UK farmland is managed with GNSS. Farmers report that the reduction in overlaps and gaps is their main benefit, followed by the ability to work more accurately and pay attention to the fieldwork, as auto-guidance helps them to steer the tractor. More efficient field traffic accounts for a reduction of 10-15% in fuel consumption and inputs used – which both saves farmers money and helps the environment.

But if the use of GNSS has proved so beneficial where adopted, what is keeping other farmers from using it in precision farming? For many farmers, the business case is still unclear, both in terms of investments in technology and knowledge as well as the economic returns that can be expected. Larger farms are better positioned to make the technology cost-effective. Also, a certain level of local support services is required for farmers to start relying on it. The lack of standardisation is another issue still hampering deep penetration, as technology suppliers and application developers compete on technology rather than on usability.

The next question is, should we bother? And the answer is Yes. Precision farming is not just another technology. It is a game changer helping farmers to reduce costs, improve efficiency and help to fit agricultural practices in rural landscapes. Doing more with less. Precision farming helps agriculture to become lean (efficient), clean (less waste and use of chemicals) and green (sustainable and lower environmental footprints). The use of GNSS is already making this possible and the use of Remote Sensing for variable rate technology is expected to double those savings and benefits. Precision farming also brings climate-smart cultivation practices within reach. It thus contributes to a more vital, anticipatory agricultural economy that is more green and climate resilient at the same time.

The use of GNSS as major enabler of precision farming is well established. It will be even more relevant in near future as we are looking for integration on the farm, thanks to location as a key identifier connecting and relating information from different sources.
Another untapped potential of precision farming is the bonus of automatic documentation of fieldwork. Using the tracks of fieldwork can almost automatically create a quality passport to all agricultural produces, whether it is for food safety or for environmental responsibility. This also helps farmers to prove their compliance to regulations and quality schemes.

Europe’s flagship Galileo is therefore an important resource in reaching policy goals in climate, sustainability, food security and rural development.

This blog post reports on discussions during the agricultural GNSS User Forum meeting organised by the FP7 project UNIFARM during the European Space Solutions conference in Prague 11-13 June 2014. More information can be found on www.project-unifarm.eu.

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