The competition between Astrium Services of Europe and Boeing Commercial Satellite Services of the United States in selling satellite bandwidth to military customers now extends to the military Ka-band capacity on the Yahsat 1B satellite over the Middle East.
![Group Urges Broad Access To Copernicus/GMES Data]()
EARSC says it is “very familiar with, and well-adapted to, working with classified data and information."
![For Europe’s Embattled GMES, Good and Bad News]()
GMES is facing a 35 percent cut to its seven-year budget.
![European Officials Dial Back GMES Funding Expectations]()
PARIS — A high-ranking European Commission official told users and builders of satellite Earth observation systems Sept. 27 that they should abandon hope that the commission will fund a multiyear environment-monitoring program at previously proposed levels.
The decision by the European Space Agency (ESA) to proceed with next year’s planned launch of the Sentinel 1A Earth observation satellite is welcome news, but the related funding issue that put the launch in doubt in the first place has yet to be resolved.
![European Union Defers GMES Funding Decision]()
PARIS — The European Union (EU) on May 29 declined to make a decision on whether the multibillion-dollar GMES Earth observation satellite program should be included in Europe’s next multiyear funding package or find support elsewhere.
![Europe’s Massive Envisat Goes Silent, Jeopardizing GMES Transition Plans]()
Envisat has stopped communicating with its ground controllers and has not responded to emergency measures despite four days of effort, the European Space Agency (ESA) said April 12.
![ESA, European Commission Near GMES Funding Rubicon]()
MUNICH — The Earth observation program of the European Space Agency (ESA), which in recent years has become the agency’s most dynamic undertaking, is moving toward a June showdown with the European Commission over funding for a multibillion-dollar environmental program.
![New Pressure To Add GMES Back to Long-term Budget]()
PARIS — Ministers from eight European governments have written the European Commission urging that the GMES satellite-based environment-monitoring project be reintegrated into the seven-year funding package the commission is preparing for 2014-2020.
BRUSSELS — The European Space Agency (ESA), raising the stakes in its battle with the European Commission over the future of Europe’s multibillion-dollar GMES environment-monitoring effort, has threatened to refuse to launch the first group of GMES satellites unless the commission agrees to fund the system’s operations.
![Researchers Call Plan To End GMES Commitment a ‘Disaster’]()
PARIS — The heads of two international organizations focused on Earth observation on Sept. 16 said the European Commission’s proposal to end its commitment to a broad environmental Earth observation project was “a disaster” and “a very bad signal” to the international community.
![European Commission Urged To Put GMES Back in Budget]()
PARIS — Forty-four members of the European Parliament have signed a petition urging the European Commission to reinstate Europe’s flagship environmental monitoring project, GMES, into the commission’s proposed multiyear funding plan, saying the project otherwise is likely to collapse.
The European Commission’s surprise proposal to leave the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) space-based Earth observation initiative out of its latest multiyear spending plan creates uncertainty that could undercut program stakeholders including companies that are investing in GMES-related services and applications. It is an about-face for the commission, which until recently had given every indication that GMES, along with the Galileo satellite navigation system, was a long-term priority.
![European Commission Doles out Down Payment for Initial GMES Launchers]()
PARIS — The European Commission has transferred nearly 104 million euros ($151 million) to the European Space Agency (ESA) for management of Europe’s flagship Earth observation program, ESA officials said June 10.
![Delay in 1st GMES Satellites Presses Envisat into Longer Service]()
MUNICH — Development of the first two satellites being built for Europe’s broad Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program has fallen behind schedule by at least six months, forcing the European Space Agency (ESA) to further extend operations of the huge Envisat environmental satellite, ESA Earth Observation Director Volker Liebig said March 31.
![European Ministers Voice Support for Galileo, GMES]()
PARIS — European government ministers on Nov. 25 gave pro forma endorsement to Europe’s financially strapped satellite navigation and Earth observation projects but offered no more than vague encouragement that others continue to seek the necessary funding.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) expects to produce by the end of July an estimate of what it will cost to design, install and maintain a network of ground-based sensors and other facilities to work as part of Europe’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) Earth observation system, according to Chris Steenmans, head of EEA’s Shared Environmental Information System division.
![GMES Chief Tallies Tab for Earth-monitoring System]()
While most speakers at the Living Planet Symposium June 28 to July 2 were able to focus on the occasionally stunning data sets they hoped to produce from their missions, it was left to Josef Aschbacher to present the bill.
![European Officials Embrace Open Data Policy for GMES Satellites]()
BERGEN, Norway — The European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Parliament have endorsed the idea of free and open access to data from Europe’s future generation of Sentinel Earth observation satellites, with the possible exception of imagery with a ground resolution sharper than 10 meters, European government officials said.
![Italy’s e-Geos Lands GMES Radar, Optical Imagery Deal]()
PARIS — Italy’s e-Geos Earth observation satellite services company will provide radar and optical imagery from Italian and U.S. satellites to European governments as part of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) project, Rome-based e-Geos announced Nov. 19.
