Rio de Janeiro 12 April 2016 13:07
e-GEOS (a company owned by Finmeccanica-Telespazio and the Italian Space Agency), with the Brazilian Geoambiente, won the tender called by the Amazon Protection Management Centre
Rio de Janeiro, 12 April 2016 - e-GEOS (80% Finmeccanica-Telespazio, 20% ASI) has been awarded - through the Brazilian company Geoambiente - a tender held by CENSIPAM (Centro Gestor e Operacional do Sistema de Proteçao da Amazonia) to monitor deforestation in the Amazon. In particular, the contract, valid for 2016 and renewable for a second year, provides for the monthly acquisition of satellite data from the Italian COSMO-SkyMed constellation, relating to an area of ​​one million square kilometres of the Amazon territory.
Radar sensors on the satellites will enable constant monitoring, day and night and in all weather conditions, making it the ideal solution for the Amazon territory, characterized most of the year by frequent rains and constant cloud cover. The data from COSMO-SkyMed have already been used successfully in Brazil - where Telespazio has been operating since 1997 through the subsidiary Telespazio Brasil - for environmental monitoring and safety (oil spills from platforms at sea, landslide control), in support to agriculture and for defence applications.
The president of e-GEOS, Roberto Ibba, expressed the Italian Space Agency's satisfaction with the selection of the COSMO-SkyMed system by CENSIPAM for this important radar satellite project monitoring the Amazon. Finmeccanica also expressed satisfaction, since the new contract is further confirmation of the value of its technology in the space sector.
Finmeccanica plays a leading role in COSMO-SkyMed: a lot of equipment comes from the company's laboratories - from the solar panels to the star sensors, from the unit controlling and distributing power to the unit for amplification, conversion, and modulation of the RF signal - integrated on board the four satellites, manufactured by the subsidiary Thales Alenia Space (Finmeccanica 33%, Thales 67%), while Telespazio (Finmeccanica 67%, Thales 33%) developed the entire ground segment and is responsible for the acquisition, processing, and distribution of the satellite data - marketed worldwide by e-GEOS - for civil applications.
Funded by ASI, the Italian Ministry of Defence and the MIUR (Ministry of Education, Universities and Research), COSMO-SkyMed is able to operate in any visibility with a high refresh frequency. It also meets military and civilian needs, with services and applications for environmental monitoring, control of land and sea, agriculture, border protection, and safety.