Telespazio has been awarded a contract by ESA to develop the coordination and data access system of the Copernicus programme

Rome  27 June 2019 11:33

As part of the European Copernicus Earth Observation Programme, Telespazio - a joint-venture between Leonardo (67%) and Thales (33%) - was awarded a contract as main contractor by the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop, maintain, and manage operations for the PRISM (Copernicus Contributing Missions access Support Functions and Platform) system. The contract is worth EUR 12.5 million, and will run for 34 months, with the possibility of an optional extension of up to a further 24 months.

This system makes it possible to distribute satellite data generated by the Copernicus contributing missions to ESA users engaged in managing emergencies, monitoring the environment, and security.

PRISM is an evolution of the CDS V3 system operated by Telespazio as a result of a tender process won in 2014 and will be completely deployed over a commercial cloud. It will be fully integrated with the ESA’s Sentinel missions, Italy’s COSMO-SkyMed satellites, and other EO missions associated with the Copernicus programme.

The tasks are managed by an international consortium headed by Telespazio, which also includes the Italian company Serco (main partner, responsible for operations), the Italian ONDA DIAS for cloud services, supplied by Serco via OVH cloud provider, Intecs, and Werum gmbh companies and other European partners.

Telespazio once again confirms that it is one of the European Space Agency’s main suppliers for high-tech systems, applications and services and plays a role of prime importance as industrial partner in the Copernicus programme.

 

Note to the editors: information on Copernicus and Leonardo’s contribution

Copernicus is the most ambitious Earth Observation programme ever developed.

Managed by the European Commission (EC), in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA); Copernicus provides accurate, timely, easily accessible information for improving management of the environment, in order to understand and mitigate the effects of climate change, while guaranteeing civil security.

The Leonardo Group plays a leading role in the European Copernicus programme, as a fundamental partner in both developing systems and in satellite applications for the programme.

In fact, Thales Alenia Space is responsible for designing and constructing satellites for the Sentinel 1 and Sentinel 3 missions, equipped with cutting-edge instruments made by Leonardo, such as SLSTR radiometers (able to measure the temperature of the oceans and the land from a height of 800 km, with a precision of one tenth of a degree).

Telespazio is one of the leading industrial partners in Copernicus: it contributes to developing the ground segment and operations. Via e-GEOS (Telespazio/ASI) it makes data available from the COSMO-SkyMed and IRS constellations and provides geospatial services and applications for monitoring the land, emergency actions, and maritime security. The data acquired by the Sentinel 1 and Sentinel 2 families of satellites, are received for Italy via e-GEOS’s Matera Space Centre, one of the three ground stations of Copernicus’s Core Ground Segment.