Project description
Satellite technology for fast infrastructure monitoring
Earth observation satellites are important tools to monitor critical infrastructures like the transportation system of goods and people or the supply system of energy and water. Monitoring processes currently in use are complex and costly. They are also difficult in terms of scalability and automation. In this context, the EU funded IIMEO project will develop a solution for the operational real-time, high resolution monitoring of critical infrastructure by means of an innovative observation payload for a future low Earth orbit constellation. This new system focuses on data availability in less than 1 hour using AI-based processing approaches. To define use cases for commercial applications, the project will conduct a pilot study with a railway company.
Objective
Critical infrastructures for, e.g. the transport of goods and people or the supply of energy and water, are the lifelines of our globalized society. Impairments can result in enduring supply bottlenecks, significant disruptions to public safety or other dramatic consequences.
Currently used monitoring processes for these infrastructures are costly, difficult to implement in isolated areas, nonuniform due to heterogenous technical solutions and poorly scalable or automatable.
The project Instantaneous Infrastructure Monitoring by Earth Observation (IIMEO) contributes to an end-to-end solution for the operational real-time, high-resolution monitoring of critical infrastructure by means of an innovative observation payload for a future LEO constellation.
Our system concept focusses on data availability within less than 1 hour from user request to information delivery by AI-based processing approaches implemented on space-qualified on-board hardware. To provide a persistent weather-independent monitoring service with an improved spatial resolution of up to 50 cm, we propose a novel sensor configuration consisting of a 35-GHz-SAR sensor in combination with optical cameras.
Based on existing technology from scientific institutions and European space industry, hard- and software will be further developed up to TRL 6. Development will be carried out in close cooperation with a railway company as a pilot user to define use cases for commercial applications based on the requirements of industry and public services. The end-to-end prototype service including on-board processing will be demonstrated within a final flight campaign. A roadmap will describe the further exploitation of the project results and outline further applications of the technology to other infrastructure systems.
A follow-up demonstrator mission in 2026/27 is envisaged to showcase the monitoring of railways from space on a global scale on TRL 7.
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HORIZON-IA - HORIZON Innovation ActionsCoordinator
28359 Bremen
Germany