IRIDE: ESA entrusts Planetek Italia with land monitoring services for local PA

The European Space Agency awarded Planetek Italia the development of land monitoring services for Local Public Administration (LPA) derived from the Earth observation data of the Italian satellite constellation IRIDE.

The IRIDE programme is an initiative of the Italian Government financed with National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) funds, which will be completed by 2026 under the management of the European Space Agency (ESA) in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to create a satellite infrastructure for Earth observation intended to provide services to the Public Administration.

The contract for the development of ‘Earth Observation Services for Local Public Administration Lot 3: Cross-Monitoring of Ground Motion and Hot Spots of Land Cover Change (EOS4LPA Lot3)’ was awarded by ESA to Planetek Italia, which will lead an industrial team comprising Serco Italia, Spark Reply and Survey Lab.

A team with a long-lasting experience in the use and advanced processing of geoinformation data gained in major European Earth observation space programmes, such as Copernicus and COSMO-SkyMed.

Within the IRIDE programme, the EOS4LPA project aims at fostering an increasing use by local public administrations of Earth observation services and information products derived from ESA and ASI missions and the future IRIDE constellation.

The “Cross-Monitoring of Ground Motion and Hot Spots of Land Cover Change” service will be developed based on the infrastructure and analysis capabilities of Planetek Italia’s Rheticus® Safeland to support dozens of local public administrations such as Municipalities, Regions and Hydrographic Districts, which will act as pilot users, in monitoring the territory, landslide and subsidence areas and the stability of infrastructures.

“The EOS4LPA project is a key element in the strategies for promoting and disseminating space technologies to local administrations. This activity makes us very proud as it complements the contribution we are making to the implementation of the various components of the entire programme with operational services for users.” says Giovanni Sylos Labini, CEO di Planetek Italia. “IRIDE is proof that the Italian aerospace sector has high-profile skills covering the entire supply chain, from upstream to downstream. Planetek Italia also brings to the programme the experience it has gained in thirty years of developing services for end users in many territorial and industrial applications”.

IRIDE an employment opportunity for young talent

The IRIDE programme is making a significant contribution to the growth of the Italian space segment, fostering the creation of employment opportunities for young talents, researchers and professionals with skills in various scientific disciplines such as aerospace, information technology, remote sensing, earth sciences, physics, mathematics, agriculture, natural sciences and engineering.

For this reason, Planetek Italia next 22-24 May 2023 has organized in Bari, Italy, a Planetek Academy event to offer young talents the chance to join a free course on satellite data processing algorithms development in a cloud environment. At the end of the course, participants will have the opportunity to meet the company’s human resources manager and apply for one of the job opportunities offered by Planetek Italia.

The IRIDE programme

IRIDE is one of Europe's largest space programme for Earth observation in low earth orbit (LEO) and represents a significant component of the NextGenerationEU dedicated to the development of space activities, supporting the ecological and digital transition. The programme will realise a system that includes all parts (upstream, downstream and services) to provide geospatial services at the national and European levels, both to the public administration and private customers.

IRIDE will consist of a constellation of satellites of various types and sizes combining SAR, optical, panchromatic, hyperspectral and infrared sensors. The constellation will be built in Italy and completed by 2026 with the support of ESA and ASI for a total value of EUR 1.1 billion allocated under the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience (PNRR). The constellation will help the Civil Protection Department and other administrations deal with hydrogeological instability and fires, protect coastlines, and monitor critical infrastructure, air quality and weather conditions.

Planetek Italia's role in IRIDE

Planetek Italia will play an active role in the design and development of different components of the system (upstream, downstream and services), acting both as prime contractor in different work lots and collaborating with the various industrial teams in charge of developing other components.