Strengthening Europe's capacity to take autonomous decisions on security and defence, leveraging information gathered from space. This is the goal of the future. Eu Earth Observation Governmental Service (Eogs), for which Leonardo has obtained from the European Space Agency un study contract intended to define its architecture. The assignment falls within one of the two parallel studies financed by the European Commission and signed with the ESA within the Financial Framework Partnership Agreement. The work will identify various design options for the future implementation of the service, comparing possible technological and operational solutions.
This path is accompanied by the preparatory activities European Resilience from Space for Earth Observation, dedicated to developing the necessary capabilities and their possible integration with national and European dual-use Earth observation systems.
From satellites to services, an integrated system
The study led by Leonardo will take the entire Earth observation chain under examination, from space sensors and systems to ground infrastructure, data processing, and user services. The project will leverage the expertise of joint ventures. Telespazio, Thales Alenia Space, and e-GEOS, together with a network of European partners.
The starting point will be the operational needs of security and defense usersOn this basis, existing capabilities will be analyzed and any missing ones identified. The various architectural options will then be evaluated for performance, resilience, rapid response, and economic sustainability. Central to the work will be the possibility of combining existing and future national, institutional, and commercial resources within a shared system. The study will also leverage Leonardo and the Space Alliance's technologies, including the group's proprietary Earth observation constellation.
ESA and Leonardo focus on data sovereignty
For ESA, the project represents a step in building European capabilities for the coming years. "This is an important step towards a sovereign European Earth Observation capability to support security and resilience," it stated. Simonetta Cheli, director of the Agency's Earth Observation Programs, “we are delighted that Leonardo is ready to contribute to the definition of the project that will help shape Europe's Earth Observation capabilities for the next decade and beyond, systematizing national, institutional, and commercial assets within a shared operational framework aimed at strengthening Europe's resilience and strategic autonomy.”
A theme also recalled by Massimo Claudio Comparini, Managing Director of Leonardo's Space Division“Europe's strategic autonomy increasingly depends on its ability to access, understand, and use critical data from space,” he said. “Through the EOGS study, Leonardo will contribute with its own technologies, infrastructure and expertise and those of the Space Alliance to define a sovereign Earth Observation capacity to support Europe's security, resilience and technological independence".
A consortium involving seven countries
The project brings together an industrial ecosystem distributed between Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Luxembourg, Portugal and Poland. Alongside the joint ventures Telespazio, Thales Alenia Space and e-Geos, the consortium led by Leonardo includes Ohb, Gaf, HiTec, Alioth, CEiiA, Argotec, Satlantis, KPLabs, Aiko and Sitael.
The expected outcome of the study will be the definition of concrete alternatives for the architecture of the future EOGS. This preliminary work, prior to the service's implementation, will identify how to connect European space capabilities and transform their data into useful information for security and defense decisions.
