Brandenburg
/ Havel, Germany, November 5, 2009 – RapidEye, the only geospatial
solutions provider to own and operate a constellation of five identical
Earth Observation satellites, announced today that a frame contract has
been signed with the European Space Agency (ESA) to provide RapidEye satellite imagery for monitoring and change detection in areas prone to natural disasters.
[earsc.eu] The contract between RapidEye and ESA
is based on a list of pre-defined, high-risk areas, for which RapidEye
will provide satellite imagery before and after an emergency event has
occurred. With its constellation of five satellites, the RapidEye
system has the capability to revisit an area daily, which accommodates
frequent monitoring intervals and can provide the most up-to-date
information on environmental changes.
Michael
Prechtel, Head of Sales and Marketing for RapidEye, commented, “We are
proud to be a part of this European project that assists in monitoring
and managing areas that are likely to be, and have been affected, by
natural disasters. To support this project, we offer a special
emergency order service to ESA by providing
satellite data within 12-24 hours following a request. We look forward
to contributing to the success of this project, as it will allow the
European Community to be better prepared for critical environmental
situations.”
ESA will
be using RapidEye’s satellite imagery mainly for the project ‘Safer’, a
security and emergency project of the Global Monitoring for Environment
and Security (GMES) program in Europe. GMES
is a European program for implementing a European capacity for Earth
Observation, with an objective to monitor and better understand the
environment. By contributing to the success of the ‘Safer’ project,
RapidEye will support ESA in reinforcing the
European capacity to better respond to emergency situations deriving
from storms, fires, floods, earthquakes or landslides. For more
information about the GMES program of ESA please go to http://gmesdata.esa.int
Aside
from offering satellite imagery of high-risk areas, RapidEye provides
satellite data of millions more square kilometers of Earth, which can
be chosen from the expanding collection of imagery in the RapidEye
Library. The RapidEye Library can be accessed by contacting a
distributor at www.rapideye.de/distributors
,
or RapidEye directly. The Library is continuously growing, with new
images being downloaded from the satellites every day. For more
information, please visit RapidEye’s website at www.rapideye.de, or
email an inquiry to sales@rapideye.de.
About RapidEye AG
RapidEye is an ISO-certified
geospatial information provider focused on integrating customized and
industry specific solutions into the workflow of global customers in
agriculture, forestry, energy, infrastructure, government, security and
emergency. RapidEye experts and the satellite system – a constellation
of five satellites capable of downloading over 4 million km² of high
resolution, multi-spectral imagery per day, and a ground segment for
processing and archiving data – allow for cost-effective customized
services. The unique combination of large area coverage, high spatial
resolution and the possibility of daily revisit to an area provide for
superior management information solutions. Currently, more than 110
experts from more than 20 countries are employed by RapidEye, with
plans to grow the team to 140 by late 2009.
RapidEye benefits from a public-private partnership with the Space Agency of the German Aerospace Center (DLR),
which is supported by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.
RapidEye is also cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). For more information on ERDF please contact efreinfo@mw.brandenburg.de.
RapidEye
is a “Selected Landmark in the Land of Ideas” and therefore part of the
event series “365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas”. This program is run
by the initiative “Germany – Land of Ideas” and Deutsche Bank. Being a
“Selected Landmark” RapidEye will stand for Germany being a “Land of
ideas” in 2009 and will demonstrate Germany’s spirit of innovation. The
initiative is under the patronage of Germany’s federal president Horst
Köhler. www.land-of-ideas.org
For more information about RapidEye, please visit www.rapideye.de
RapidEye Contact
RapidEye AG
Molkenmarkt 30
14776 Brandenburg a. d. Havel
Germany
press@rapideye.de
Source: http://www.earsc.eu/news/rapideye-to-supply-satellite-imagery-to-the-european-space-agency-monitoring-of-high-risk-emergency-areas
