At the ongoing European Space Conference in Brussels, e-GEOS and the European Space Agency (ESA) announced the signing of a contract worth approximately €5 million for distribution of COSMO-SkyMed data in Copernicus services, continuing the Italian constellation's support for the Programme, which has lasted for over a decade.
The COSMO-SkyMed constellation - owned by the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Ministry of Defence, for which e-GEOS is the exclusive worldwide distributor of data for commercial purposes – is therefore confirmed as one of the leading Copernicus Contributing Missions (CCM) of the European Commission's Earth Observation Programme, ensuring the timely provision of SAR data complementary to those of the Sentinel missions.
The licence was granted following a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) procedure established by ESA for the purchase of commercial Earth Observation data to support Copernicus services. As part of the procedure, for the COSMO-SkyMed mission, e-GEOS was defined as a consolidated European commercial data provider for Copernicus.
Users will enjoy access to COSMO-SkyMed constellation data through ESA's Rapid Response Desk (RRD) developed by a consortium led by GAF AG (a 100% e-GEOS company) together with e-GEOS, Sinergise Solutions, Telespazio Ibérica, T-Systems and TAITUS.
"This contract confirms the leading role e-GEOS plays in Copernicus, attesting to the centrality of Italy and its strategic assets in European space programmes. Thanks to its cutting-edge technological know-how and access to the COSMO-SkyMed constellation, e-GEOS provides European Union citizens with countless services, including maps for emergencies and disasters, analysis of the stability of the territory and infrastructure, and solutions for urban resilience to climate change".
Milena Lerario, CEO of e-GEOS.