The international Earth Observation Summit on February 16, 2005 in Brussels is aimed at laying the foundations for a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) through the approval of a ten-Year Implementation Plan. The primary European contribution to the GEOSS is the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative.
Jointly led by the European Commission and ESA this initiative will bring together the capacity of Europe to collect and manage data and information for both environment and civil security purposes.
European countries are already in a position to bring space capabilities to GMES: ESA through the satellites Envisat or ERS (European Remote Sensing), France with the current Spot 4, Spot 5 and Jason satellites as well as the future Pleiades constellation, Germany and Italy with both radar satellites, respectively TerraSAR and Cosmo/Skymed.
January 6, the French Minister of Research, Francois d'Aubert, announced that some measures will be suggested to accelerate space projects dedicated to natural disasters warning. Finally, ESA will define an implementation plan for GMES by the end of the year.
MIDI-Pyrenees To Strenghten Its Competitiveness In The Space Field
