Telespazio Brasil: contract with petrobras to detect oil spills using Cosmo-Skymed satellites

Rio de Janeiro  01 April 2019

Telespazio Brasil signed a contract with Petrobras to monitor the oil company's activities in the Campos basin, north of Rio de Janeiro, utilising the COSMO-SkyMed satellites constellation. The agreement, which continues a multi-year collaboration between Telespazio and Petrobras, aims to detect any oil spills from the exploration and production activities carried out by the Brazilian company in the region.

The 14 months contract includes the supply to Petrobras of an average of 150 radar images per month of the Campos basin, as well as specialised technical services available 24 hours a day.

More than 50 oil platforms operating in the Campos basin will be monitored daily by the four COSMO-SkyMed satellites, the only ones capable of providing night and day information in any weather condition. The Italian radar satellites also respond to the requirement to monitor the affected region with a high frequency of review, ensuring coverage of the entire area and of additional 40 critical locations every 48 hours.

Petrobras is the largest Brazilian company in the energy sector. In particular, it is active in the exploration, production, refining and transport of oil & gas products. The company is one of the world leaders in the development of technologies for oil exploration in deep and ultra-deep waters.

In Brazil, Telespazio has been present for more than twenty years in the space sector through its subsidiary Telespazio Brasil.

Telespazio Brasil has been present in the country since 1997, when the Company began supplying mobile satellite communication services through South America, and has accompanied the growth and development of the overall Brazilian space sector. Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro and with offices in São Paulo, Porto Alegre and Cuiabá, Telespazio Brasil is one of the leading Brazilian providers of satellite services and offers a wide range of cutting-edge solutions to the corporate and institutional market in the communications, multimedia, and Earth observation sectors. It also dedicates engineering services, operations management, and maintenance of earth-based systems that control satellites in orbit.

Telespazio Brasil supplies, in particular, services and applications based on data from the COSMO-SkyMed constellation, with four satellites capable of guaranteeing 24-hour monitoring services, night and day and in all weather conditions. The COSMO-SkyMed data is successfully used in Brazil for monitoring deforestation in the Amazon, for safety - oil spills, landslide control –, to support agriculture and for Defense applications.

Other News & Stories

09.10.2026
Telespazio Benelux to build the ground infrastructure for ESA’s lunar ice-hunting mission

Telespazio Benelux will lead a European consortium, with EarthLab Luxembourg and Astro42, to deliver and operate the control centre for PROSPECT, ESA’s mission to drill for water ice and other volatile chemicals at the lunar south pole, with a drill developed and built by Leonardo.

08.10.2026
e-GEOS: Board of Directors appoints Cristina Sgubin as Chief Executive Officer

The Board of Directors of e-GEOS, a joint venture between Telespazio (80%) and the Italian Space Agency (20%), has unanimously appointed Attorney Cristina Sgubin as Chief Executive Officer of the company. Sgubin will also be responsible for Telespazio’s Geo Information Line of Business.

06.10.2026
ispace, Leonardo and Telespazio Sign Memorandum of Understanding to Collaborate on Lunar Exploration
  • The MoU builds on existing cooperation between ispace and Telespazio further expanding the areas of potential cooperation also leveraging on Leonardo space capabilities in robotics and AI applied to space exploration, strengthening Europe’s and Japan roles in the emerging cislunar economy.

  • The partnership will advance interoperability of lunar infrastructure and services to support global lunar exploration and explore ispace’s lunar transportation capabilities, with the European Space Agency’s Moonlight programme led by Telespazio, part of Leonardo Group, being the first opportunity to implement it.

25.09.2026
Fucino Space Centre: from the first "ping" to the future of the Internet

Prof. Luciano Lenzini, a pioneer in bringing the Internet to Italy, met with Telespazio engineers and technicians at the Fucino Space Centre, through which the first Internet link between Italy and the United States passed 40 years ago.

09.10.2026
Telespazio Benelux to build the ground infrastructure for ESA’s lunar ice-hunting mission

Telespazio Benelux will lead a European consortium, with EarthLab Luxembourg and Astro42, to deliver and operate the control centre for PROSPECT, ESA’s mission to drill for water ice and other volatile chemicals at the lunar south pole, with a drill developed and built by Leonardo.

08.10.2026
e-GEOS: Board of Directors appoints Cristina Sgubin as Chief Executive Officer

The Board of Directors of e-GEOS, a joint venture between Telespazio (80%) and the Italian Space Agency (20%), has unanimously appointed Attorney Cristina Sgubin as Chief Executive Officer of the company. Sgubin will also be responsible for Telespazio’s Geo Information Line of Business.

06.10.2026
ispace, Leonardo and Telespazio Sign Memorandum of Understanding to Collaborate on Lunar Exploration
  • The MoU builds on existing cooperation between ispace and Telespazio further expanding the areas of potential cooperation also leveraging on Leonardo space capabilities in robotics and AI applied to space exploration, strengthening Europe’s and Japan roles in the emerging cislunar economy.

  • The partnership will advance interoperability of lunar infrastructure and services to support global lunar exploration and explore ispace’s lunar transportation capabilities, with the European Space Agency’s Moonlight programme led by Telespazio, part of Leonardo Group, being the first opportunity to implement it.

25.09.2026
Fucino Space Centre: from the first "ping" to the future of the Internet

Prof. Luciano Lenzini, a pioneer in bringing the Internet to Italy, met with Telespazio engineers and technicians at the Fucino Space Centre, through which the first Internet link between Italy and the United States passed 40 years ago.