Another Phase Completed In Europe's Quest For Their Own GPS

We’ve discussed other GPS constellations here at RMT in the past, whether it be GLONASS or Beidou. It seems that Europe is moving ever closer to its goal of creating a rival GPS satellite network with the recent announcement from the European Space Agency (ESA). The ESA has announced the successful launch of Sentinel-1A back in April, a satellite that is part of the Copernicus Programme. This program seeks to give information regarding the environment, discover the impact climate change has, and as any good GPS constellation would do, protect civil security.

The ESA and the European Commission (EC) are working together on the Copernicus Programme, which they’re hoping will be just as, if not more, accurate and accessible than the US GPS constellation. The launch of Sentinel-1A is one small step toward their end goal. “Sentinel-1A opens a new page in the implementation of Copernicus,” said ESA Director General Jean-Jacque Dordain. “The Copernicus Program will provide European citizens with the most ambitious space-based services in the world for environmental and security applications.”

About Copernicus

Previously called Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), Copernicus is simply the European GPS constellation that will allow them to monitor the Earth. Data is collected from numerous sources – ground stations, sensors located in both sea and air, earth observation satellites – and then processed and turned into information that users can trust is both reliable and up-to-date.

Users can expect data in six areas, listed on the Copernicus website as land, atmosphere, marine, climate change, emergency management, and security. You’ll be able to do just about everything the US does with its GPS constellation, like better manage protected land, city centers, farm land, and forests, make GPS tracking devices more accurate and dependable, help tourists find where they need to go, help emergency response crews answer a call for help in a more timely fashion, and so much more.

As the EU said, “The Copernicus programme is not only a tool to improve the quality of life of European citizens, but also has the potential to become a major contributor to Europe’s strategy for growth and employment. Copernicus does not replace existing European capacities, but rather complements them with a view to fulfilling user needs and guaranteeing sustainability and European autonomy in the long term.”

The Sentinels’ Mission

Sentinel-1A is one of two satellites that will transmit constant imagery of land and water surfaces in Europe, Canada, and the polar caps with minimal lag. It’s like on-demand viewing for the landscape, and will help environmentalists more closely study the impact of global warming. Sentinel-1B will join 1A at some point in the future. The entire program is operating on a budget of 8.4 billion euro, and will also make GPS location technology on the ground much more accurate.

Antonio Tajani, EC Vice President, said, “Thanks to Sentinel-1A, the first of a constellation of satellites dedicated to the Copernicus programme, brand new eyes will observe our living Earth as never before and these eyes will be European! The data provided by this satellite will enable considerable progress in improving maritime security, climate change monitoring and providing support in emergency and crisis situations. Multiplying, in this way, the benefits that European citizens will reap from our space programmes.”

Already Seeing Some Action

It was barely in space for two days before it had its first close encounter – a collision-avoidance maneuver was performed in order to avoid colliding with a dead US satellite after separating from its carrier rocket. The US notified the European Space Agency’s European Space Operations Centre in Germany of the impending collision so that they could avoid it.

And more recently,  it was reported on May 28^th the Sentinel-1A was instrumental in reporting radar data allowing the floods in Herzegovina and Bosnia to be mapped. The flooding was widespread, causing landslides and much death and destruction in areas of the Balkans. Hundreds of thousands of residents are displaced, while dozens have been killed. The radar on the Sentinel-1A is able to obtain radar images through rain, clouds, and darkness. This helps monitor the floods at all hours, and demonstrates the real power of this new and improved constellation of GPS satellites.

Sentinel-2

Scientists met in Italy in late May  to discuss development updates in the upcoming Sentinel-2 satellite, over 40 scientists and people in all representing 44 countries. John Latham from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) spoke to his excitement regarding this program, saying, “Timely, high-resolution data are needed for the assessment and monitoring of agricultural productivity. Sentinel-2 data at 10m resolution will transform our ability to effectively monitor the status and trends of agriculture on a global basis, and will significantly assist those countries most at risk…FAO is an active partner and champion user of Earth observation data, and an avid supporter of an integrated Earth observation strategy for resource monitoring built on Copernicus and Sentinel data.”

Count on RMT to keep you up to date on Copernicus Programme developments.

Another Phase Completed In Europe's Quest For Their Own GPS