The International Astronautical Congress (IAC) is the largest global space forum where, once a year, space stakeholders come together to discuss the latest trends and developments and to shape the future of the sector. Every year, the Congress switches location and theme.

IAC2022 has been inaugurated as “Space for @ll”, to highlight the tremendous change experienced by the sector in the lasts decades transforming it from a closed sector accessible only to a handful of engineers into a transversal, multidisciplinary industry enabling highly innovative services that nowadays are a crucial part of our daily lives, hence capable of setting in motion virtuous processes of sustainable socio-economic development.

From the 18^th to the 22^nd of September, Paris welcomed about 9300 delegates from 110 countries including seasoned experts as well as students and young professionals representing this year 45% of the overall participants demonstrating the increasing interest of young generations for this domain. The 73^rd edition of the IAC has been a record edition not just for the unprecedented number of delegates attending the event, but especially owing to the 3000 papers presented, among which 800 interactive presentations, 25 Global Networking Forum (GNF) sessions and 19 Special Sessions.

Such extraordinary success became tangible during the public day, when the IAC opens its doors to the general public. This edition welcomed around 2,200 people including space enthusiasts, universities, high school students, and families. A day entirely dedicated to space’s discovery and the future of the space exploration illustrated through the inspiring tales of Europe’s astronauts: Alexander Gerst, Matthias Maurer, Luca Parmitano and Thomas Pesquet.

This year, Eurisy team has been hosted at the European Space Agency (ESA) booth. This was the occasion to showcase the latest Eurisy publication “Satellites Going Local- Maritime Edition”. A booklet collecting case studies of satellite applications in the maritime domain. Eurisy was engaged in multiple initiatives on different areas related to the work carried out throughout the year. On September 19th Eurisy participated in a Special Session focused on “Building bridges between established and emerging space industry” organised by the Slovak Space Office. Member of Eurisy since June 2021, the Slovak Space Office the space industry branch of the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO) in charge of developing the Slovak space ecosystem and establishing international professional cooperation of domestic companies  with relevant actors.

The session organised during this past IAC is part of a broader set of initiatives to support emerging space nations to share best practices and boost their entrepreneurial ecosystem fulfilling the United Nations’ Sustainable Development goals. The panel counted on the expert views of Allison Areias-Vogel from United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), Jonathan Hung from Singapore Space and Technology Ltd, Raycho Raychev of Endurosat, Temidayo Oniosun from Space in Africa, Matias Campos from Sideralis Foundation, Veronica La Regina from Nanoracks Europe, and Annalisa Donati from Eurisy. During the session, Annalisa illustrated how Eurisy creates and manages platforms to share experiences and best practices among its members, to forge partnerships thus favoring cooperation to develop national space programmes tailored on the strengths of the individual countries. Through its activities, Eurisy enhances the reach of national space initiatives providing international recognition and smoothing the path for stories of success like the signature of the Associated Membership Agreement between Slovakia and the European Space Agency. For those interested in the content of the discussion additional information are available here.

Eurisy also presented two technical papers as outcome of selected activities performed throughout the year. Since early 2022, Eurisy has been actively investigating into challenges and opportunities to use satellite based solution for Disaster Risk Management through a series of activities, culminating in the conference “Satellite-based Services for Disaster Risk Management”, held in Athens on May 25th and co-organised with the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) and the Greek Ministry Climate Crisis and Civil Protection.

The paper “Integrating Satellite Applications in Disaster Risk Management”. builds on this work shedding light on the potential for space-based solutions to contribute into the different phases of the disaster management cycle. The paper describes European and international mechanisms to access and share  these information as well as the obstacles in their integration experienced from actual users in Greece, used as case study. The research also pursued to deepen the disaster risk management community among European states with regard to the integration of satellite applications, also through several recent case studies on the use of satellite-based services during disasters and extreme weather events.

Another great opportunity for Eurisy was the presentation of the paper “GIS4SCHOOLS – Paving the Way For The School Of Tomorrow: Leveraging On Space Technology To Stimulate Steam Learning And Teaching”. Shortlisted as the best interactive presentation of IAC2022 for the Space and Society section out of more than 800 presentations, the aim of the paper was to present the latest development of the Erasmus+ GIS4Schools project. Underpinning the in-depth interviews with the schools’ representatives involved in the project and the data collected through the Digital Diaries, an open source mobile application to collect students’ feedback, the presentation provided an overview of the skills acquired by the teachers and pupils through the project. The paper also showcases the suit of freely accessible products developed by experts including the Training Handbook, available in 5 different languages, the e-leaning platform and the use cases.

And that’s not all: Eurisy’s week was packed with additional important engagements such as the session dedicated to the Copernicus and Me project. With the support of the European Space Agency – which hosted us thoughout the week – Eurisy organised a session dedicated to the project, whose objective is to bring to non-space communities hands-on examples of what can be achieved by using data and services from the Copernicus satellite constellations. The session was the opportunity to showcase three video key case studies: VIDA: Supporting access to electricity in Sierra Leone, Mitigating the effects of climate change at public transport stops in Prague, and Safeguarding cultural heritage in Rhodes. The videos put the users on the spotlight to explain to their peers the befits they enjoyed by integrating those applications as well as the process for the development of tailor-made solutions addressing their specific needs.

IAC was also the moment to celebrate the 10th edition of its very own Hubert Curien Award. The Hubert Curien Award is a historic biennial Eurisy award to the legacy of its founding father, Hubert Curien. It recognises the efforts to help society benefit from space. Every two years, a high-level international jury selects a winner among a list of nominated candidates among any person or organisation that demonstrated dedication in the field of international cooperation in space science and technology, or in the promotion of space applications and their benefits to society. This last edition was special not just because was the 10th anniversary of such a prestigious award, but also because it awarded Amalia Ercoli Finzi’s lifelong commitment and work in space exploration.

Visit our dedicated webpage to visit our dedicated webpage to learn more about the highlights of the 10th HCA and the acceptance video of this year’s winner.

IAC 2022 brings with it a great deal of satisfaction for the achievements recognised by other colleagues and space actors and allow us to look to the future with confidence and with new relationships to cultivate. Until the next IAC!

The post Space for All! Eurisy contribution to the 73rd edition of the International Astronautical Congress appeared first on Eurisy.

Blue Thread

Blue Thread S.r.l. is a small Italian company based in Rome and founded in 2019. The company’s mission is to develop technological solutions for the maritime and nautical world. By using a multi-technological approach that integrates different knowhows, the company aims at responding to the multiple challenges that the maritime domain faces, from improving navigation to monitoring the access to ports and remote marine areas.

Blue Thread collaborates with international and national research centres, such as the University of Tor Vergata in Rome and the Istituto Superiore Mario Boella in Turin. In addition, Blue Thread also developed a fleet monitoring application prototype for sailing races with a wide range of features, such as an optimised start strategy, a lay line determination, and a racecourse registration.

The challenge

According to the FAO’s definition, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are marine geographical areas that need greater protection than the surrounding waters for biodiversity conservation or fishery management purposes. In its geographic diversity, Italy counts around 29 MPAs across the country. Each of these areas is classified according to the protection needed, based on natural, geomorphological, physical, scientific, economic, and educational relevance.

Monitoring and safeguarding MPAs is a complicated task for the local authorities responsible for these areas, due to their extension and to the financial resources required to protect their biodiversity. When it comes to MPAs that are touristic destinations, like the MPA in Porto Cesareo in the Apulia region, monitoring the flux of tourists, their activities, and behaviours, becomes quite challenging.

The satellite solution

In 2019, Blue Thread developed Blue Discovery, a GNSS-based mobile app free to download and available for IOS and Android. The app is complemented by a web-GIS and an Operational Portal that could be managed by the MPA authorities. This was the case for the MPA of Porto Cesareo, that tested the app during the Summers of 2020 and 2021. Blue Discovery allows visitors to get information on the rules to access and visit the marine protected area, on the itineraries to follow, and on the spots of interest in the area surrounding the MPA. The app relies on GNSS technology embedded in smartphones and allows the authorities responsible for managing the MPA to have reliable information and increased position accuracy on the visitors of the areas through the Operational Portal.

A crowdsourcing function of the app allows visitors to send to the area’s managing authority short reports on the sighting of protected species or on environmental crimes. Visitors can upload on the app geo-referenced photos of what they see with the time on which they took them, together with additional details to help the local authorities to intervene in real-time. Furthermore, Blue Discovery provides visitors with the opportunity to request, pay, and issue permits for activities to be carried out in the MPA directly on the app.  All the data collected by the visitors are immediately visualised by the authority on the web portal, which becomes a database of events happening in the protected area that can be monitored by the authorities and used for reporting.

The results

The app allowed the authorities of the marine protected area of Porto Cesareo to monitor the flow of visitors and to keep track of their position in the area. The Blue Discovery app helped the authority of Porto Cesareo to optimise the time and resources deployed to patrol the area, and to validate the fares paid by the visitors and their permits.

Blue Discovery is constantly under development to better support the authorities in charge of managing marine natural areas. Today, Blue Thread is planning to include Earth observation imagery in the app, with the aim to provide additional support for navigation routes, thanks to the implementation of ad hoc ship detection maps. Lastly, Blue Thread is planning to include in the app the Galileo Commercial Authentication Service (CAS), that will provide authenticated, certified positioning, to avoid privacy and legal issues between the visitors and the MPA’s authorities.

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It’s again that time of the year: it’s the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) time, the biggest space forum where global actors come together to learn about the most recent trends and developments in the space sector. Organised since the 1950s by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) jointly with local partners, IAC takes place in a different country every year with a different theme to learn more about space and to allow the regional space sector to become part of the global one.

The 72^nd International Astronautical Congress took place, for the first time in its history, in the Arab region, in the setting of Dubai. During the 5-day conference, 5000 delegates from 110 countries gathered under the theme “Inspire, Innovate and Discover for the Benefit of Humankind”. On the occasion of the Public Day, an open day event for space enthusiasts and the general audience, around 1500 visitors among which students and professional from other sectors, visited the IAC exhibition.

Climate Change and space sustainability were key topics of the many sessions and papers presented during the congress. Young professionals and students from all over the world presented their ideas to space professionals demonstrating the interest and commitment of the next generation on this hot topic and how space technology can be the enabler for a change to a cleaner and resilient society.

IAC also brings inspiration and a glimpse into future endeavours. For the first time, nine crew members of the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 60/61 gathered to share their experience and knowledge with a wider audience. The panel saw the contribution of NASA astronauts and ROSCOSMOS cosmonauts, together with the UAE astronaut Hazzaa Al Mansoori, the first UAE astronaut to the ISS. Also, Chris Boshuizen, illustrated his experience of training and flying on the Blue Origin’s New Shepard’s second human flight.

IAC2021 was a record event, also for Eurisy, because for the first time it was one of the exhibiting organisations of the event.

The Eurisy booth was the gateway to learn more about the mission and objectives of the organisation and to talk about the relevance of satellite-based solutions for those economic sectors that are not traditionally related to space. What’s more, at the booth Eurisy unveiled the Space Service Hub (SSH). The project, sponsored by ESA and IAF led to the development of a 3D permanent platform embedded in the Eurisy website as well as a virtual reality software showcasing how satellite-based solutions are currently tackling big societal challenges. It aims at engaging potential partners, customers, investors in a friendly way, overcoming the technical barriers that limit the uptake of the satellite applications and that shadow the benefits related to their use. The booth was a gateway for stakeholders to discuss and exchange with the team on future cooperation and joint initiatives. Throughout the week around 50+ visitors had the opportunity to experience the VR tool and to share with us their reactions.

The SSH represents an innovative outreach tool that addresses some among the major setbacks identified by end users by relying on an immersive virtual reality experience and a 3D web platform. The user can discover different areas of our planet, moving with one single touch from a coastal area to a rural, or in an urban environment to discover peculiar challenges and how satellite data are powering solutions to overcome them.

In Dubai, Eurisy also participated to the awarding ceremony of the Global Space Market Challenge (GSMC), a new competition launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) with Eurisy’s operational and technical support held between May 2021 and October 2021. The Challenge’s objective was to give visibility to SMEs with internationalisation ambitions, developing products and/or services for the upstream or downstream space sector showing potential for extra-European and ESA markets. During the 72^nd International Astronautical Congress, the winners of the GSMC had the chance to showcase their products and services and to connect with investors. Discover here the Global Space Market Challenge winners. The ceremony took place on October 26^th with the presence of ESA Director General, Joseph Aschbacher, and the newly appointed ESA Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Procurement, Geraldine Naja.

Among the 3370 abstract submissions, three Eurisy papers got selected to be presented in three technical sessions. The GIS4Schools project has been introduced to an international audience thanks to the paper “Improving STEAM Education in Secondary Schools through the co-creation of new methodologies for teaching GIS products related to climate impact on local communities”. Co-written with Euronike and the Politecnico di Milano, it illustrates the genesis of the project, and the process leading to the development of training packages for secondary schools’ teachers and pupils. It also focuses on the adoption of new methodology and pedagogic approach to enable the transfer of new knowledge from teachers to pupils. The paper is available for download here.

The paper “Messages to the Above: Looking at Art from the Sky” presented Space4Art, a new initiative that Eurisy is exploring to implement with the support of potential new partners. The paper provides an introduction on how aerial photography and satellite imagery have changed our way of looking at Earth, inspiring art movements and allowing for the discovery and appreciation of ancient and more recent artworks. With the presentation at IAC, Eurisy wants to extend its partner research outside the European borders, after all art and sky have no boundaries. The paper is available here. A full report on Space4Art is available on the Eurisy website.

Eventually, the last paper presented was dedicated to the Space4Maritime initiative. The paper, “Space4Maritime: diving into space-based solutions for the maritime domain” mainly addresses service providers and public authorities, providing them with a set of recommendations on how to foster cooperation with maritime operators. But it also targets potential new end users interested in adopting satellite solutions in their workflow. Three case studies were described to complement and explain further the needs of European maritime end-user communities, facilitating the dialogue with the space industry and the uptake of satellite services. Read the paper here.

The 72nd IAC 2021 has been an exciting opportunity to meet our members and exchange with space professionals from around the globe in person. New initiatives will follow, waiting for IAC 2022 in Paris.

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The Copernicus Masters is the leading innovation competition for commercial Earth observation (EO) applications. Open for submissions until 6 July 2020, the competition awards prizes to innovative solutions, services, and business concepts that use EO data to solve important societal and environmental challenges. With more than EUR 550,000 worth of prizes, businesses and entrepreneurs have the opportunity to innovate with big data from space.

Similarly, 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 6 July 2020, the competition awards prizes to innovative solutions at each development stage, with the objective of turning them into real businesses. With more than EUR 1 million worth of prizes, there is an opportunity for great minds to boost their business with Galileo/EGNOS.

The post Eurisy as Regional Associate for the Copernicus & Galileo Masters 2020 appeared first on Eurisy.

European Space Agency (ESA)

While ESA isn’t really placed to help forecast the progression of the virus, it is responsible for developing and operating the family of Copernicus Sentinel satellites on behalf of the European Union, ensuring the flow of data for the Copernicus-enabled services. These sophisticated satellites, as well as new artificial intelligence technologies, can be used to understand and monitor some of the societal shifts happening right now.

To see how Earth-observing missions could be further used to explore the effects of COVID-19, ESA has issued two new initiatives. The aim is to see how satellite data can be used, for example, to map changes around transport networks, commercial ports and heavy industry such as oil refineries, to understand the effects that COVID-19 is imposing on society, the economy and the environment.

• Space in response to Covid-19 outbreak

In cooperation with the Italian Minister for Technological Innovation and Digitalization (MID), ESA launched an Announcement of Opportunity to respond to the emergency that Europe, and especially Italy, is facing because of the spread of the coronavirus. Companies are invited to propose Demonstration Projects dedicated to the deployment and demonstration of pre-operational services, addressing healthcare or education. The scope is to support the realisation and deployment of digital solutions to help citizens and communities which are facing the extraordinary consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak. This call closes on 20 April 2020, 13h00 CET.

• Submit an innovative proposal for characterising COVID-19 impacts

This new call has been added to the Permanently Open Call, part of ESA’s Earth Observation Science for Society programme. Proposals which address the monitoring of Covid-19 impacts on society with Earth observation data will be considered. The closing date is 17 April 2020 at 13h00 CET.

European GNSS Agency (GSA)

• Precise location is a key requirement when attempting to monitor and map the spread of a disease and GNSS is one of themain tools supporting this. Galileo, currently embedded in over 1.3 billion smartphones and devices worldwide, is helping to increase GNSS accuracy and availability, especially in urban areas. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus earlier this year, many apps have been developed that use GNSS precise location to monitor the global spread of the virus and to map outbreaks of the COVID-19 disease. GNSS-apps are also proving their usefulness by helping people to implement social distancing in queues and other public spaces. The GSA is looking for apps that are already working and available in app stores. Submit details of your solutions in writing to market@gsa.europa.eu and they will be featured on www.useGalileo.eu/GNSS4Crisis. The goal is for this page to become a toolbox to help authorities, emergency response services, citizens and app developers to understand what resources are currently available and what needs remain unmet.
• It is also possible to develop new applications by submitting innovative ideas to solve pressing societal challenges with the help of satellite data. For Earth observation there is the Copernicus Masters, and for satellite navigation there is the Galileo Masters.

Copernicus Hackathon

• The Copernicus Hackathon Sofia 2020, organised by the Risk-Space Transfer Technology Transfer Office (RST-TTO), will be a virtual Hackathon between 24-26 April with the motto “Space Hacking of COVID19”. The Hackathon will cover topics such as the monitoring of air pollution, assessment of water quality, assessment of geographical distribution during this pandemic. Topics can also be suggested by participants.

• Eurisy, the National Space Centre and the Blackrock Castle Observatory of the Cork Institute of Technology organise the Copernicus Hackathon Cork online on 9-13 June 2020 on the issue of “Natural and Cultural Heritage”. A special challenge is dedicated to the impacts of Covid-19. The hackathon will challenge students and IT professionals to use the data made available by the Copernicus Earth Observation System to better protect, manage and promote natural and cultural heritage. A webinar will be held on May 18th.

COVID-19 Custom Script Contest

The European Space Agency, in coordination with the European Commission, is launching a special edition of the Custom Script Contest, focused on the support of space assets during the COVID-19 crisis, managed by Euro Data Cube group. It is a quest for ideas and new algorithms on how satellite data could help monitor and mitigate the situation for the upcoming months, as the world will get back to business and will need to adapt from this crisis. The contest will be running until end of May with weekly prizes. Due to importance of the matter, the best ideas will be selected on a continuous basis and will be presented to the European Commission in the context of the dossier ESA is preparing on space as a support to Covid-19 situation.

NASA International Space Apps Challenge

Join the special edition of the International Space Apps Challenge on May 30-31 and tackle the COVID19 challenge in this global virtual hackathon!

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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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