Matera, 18 July 2012 - e-GEOS, the company created by the Italian Space Agency (20%) and Telespazio (80%), has signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to provide Xband and payload data processing services through its Matera Space Centre in support of the operational activities of the first two satellites of the Sentinel constellation, which will be used for the European Union’s GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) programme.

The seven-year contract is worth a total of EUR 10 million, and includes the provision of X-band acquisition services as well as the installation and operation of the Payload Data Ground Segment (PDGS) to enable the data acquired by the Sentinel satellites to be received, processed and stored.

e-GEOS was awarded this important contract following a tender process launched by the ESA in 2011, which included submissions from some of the most important European players in the sector.

The choice of Matera is an important recognition of the wealth of expertise and experience built up at the Space Centre in 20 years of activity, working with the Italian Space Agency and the European Space Agency and for the commercial market.

When the first Sentinel satellite is launched in 2013, the Matera Space Centre will start to acquire images – initially radar, but with the launch of the second satellite, also optical – of the entire globe. The acquisitions will be systematic and continuous, with image processing times of less than three hours, to enable them to be used for the purposes of environmental monitoring and security.

The huge archive of data that will gradually be created will represent a unique and irreplaceable asset to be used in operating services for public administration and emergency management.


e-GEOS, an Italian Space Agency (20%) and Telespazio (80%) company, is a leading international player in the geo-spatial business. e-GEOS offers a whole range of products and services in the Earth Observation and in the geo-spatial application domains, based on both optical and radar satellites as well as on aerial surveys. e-GEOS operates its Earth Observation centres in Matera and Neustrelitz, where data from multiple satellites are received and processed, also for near-real-time monitoring. As the European hub for very high resolution data, e-GEOS grants a unique access to COSMO-SkyMed, GeoEye-1, IKONOS, QuickBird, WorlView-1&2 and Radarsat-1&2 satellites.



Contact:

e-GEOS S.p.A.
Via Cannizzaro 71
00156 Rome – Italy
Tel: (+39) 06.4079.6252/3291
Email Contact
www.e-GEOS.it