Given the scientific challenges of future ESA Earth observation missions that will generate increasingly large volumes of data, the European Space Agency (ESA) has decided to optimize its EO ground segment with additional services ensuring highly performing data access and large-scale data processing methods.

Named ASCEND (Advanced Data Access and Processing Services for collaborative EO Ground Segment), the new set of user-friendly services have to offer a tailored, secure, interoperable and scalable collaborative environment with the following objectives:

• discover, visualize, manipulate, share and analyse data of the ESA Earth Explorer missions BIOMASS, EarthCARE and FLEX;
• simplify autonomous processing;
• improve EO products through scientific cooperation.

With SERCO as prime contractor and SPACEBEL as subcontractor, these additional services will be integrated into the existing Common services at ESRIN, i.e. ESA’s ground segment meant for all ESA Earth observation satellites other than the Copernicus constellation:

• Earth Explorers
• Earth Watch (Proba-V & Altius)
• Heritage Missions
• Third Party Missions

As part of this recently kicked-off ASCEND project, SPACEBEL is in charge of the “Catalogue Service” development and the cloud-based “Data Access Service” development.

Good to know: the catalogue and discovery services for all ESA Earth Explorer missions are provided by the Common Services EO-CAT (Earth Observation Catalogue). The EO-CAT Catalogue server is an on-going development by SPACEBEL that handles state-of-the art interfaces in line with OGC and CEOS specifications as well as Best Practices including STAC.   

Also for the Common Services at ESRIN, SPACEBEL has developed the supporting “ESA SKOS thesaurus” listing all EO missions of the four above mentioned categories.

ASCEND is another fine example relying upon our know-how related to Web-based Spatial Data Infrastructure and Service provisioning infrastructure for Space Data access and management.

Furthermore, other SPACEBEL software is involved in ESA’s Earth Explorers EarthCARE (on-board device), GOCE and SMOS (simulation & testing systems).

In short, SPACEBEL definitely plays an important role in ESA’s pioneering science missions for Earth!