IDEAS+ consortium, headed by Telespazio VEGA UK, wins contract to deliver support services to ESA Earth Observation missions

Telespazio VEGA UK, a subsidiary of Telespazio (Finmeccanica / Thales), together with the international consortium IDEAS+, has been awarded a contract to monitor the quality of Earth Observation (EO) data from European Space Agency (ESA) satellites and selected third party missions.

London  17 giugno 2014 10:00

The contract has a committed value of approximately €6m over the next two years and potential for a total value of €12m by 2017. The IDEAS+ consortium, headed by Telespazio, has already provided the service for the last five years giving the scientific continuity and stability needed to support existing and new missions.

ESA, which recognises the importance of understanding our planet, is committed to providing Earth Observation data. This data is used in multiple scientific research, political and commercial areas. This means that the data not only has to be of a certain quality, but must also be well documented and characterised. Telespazio VEGA UK’s detailed knowledge of cutting-edge instrumentation, data products and scientific processing ensures this quality. Specific tasks include detection of space and ground segment anomalies and trends, providing scientific and technical support to users of EO instrument data, and maintenance and evolution of the various instrument data processing facilities.

The IDEAS+ service will cover a portfolio of missions and evolve to accommodate new ESA Earth Explorer Missions and ESA Third Party Missions as they become operational. ESA Earth Explorer Missions currently in operation include SMOS, CryoSat-2 and the recently launched Swarm. Post-operational missions such as Envisat and GOCE requiring continued maintenance of data access will also be supported, as will satellite missions launched and operated by selected third party agencies to which ESA has a commitment, such as the Landsat satellite series.

Telespazio VEGA UK is part of Telespazio, a Finmeccanica and Thales 67/33 joint venture that is one of the world’s leading satellite service operators with activities ranging from the design and development of space systems to the management of launch services, from in-orbit satellite control to Earth observation, from integrated communications, satellite navigation and localisation services to scientific programmes.