Gathering environmental information
European policies supporting sustainable development and protection can only be made effective with the ability to obtain reliable and timely information about the state of our world.
Satellites supply a consistent set of continuously updated global data which can offer support to policies related to environmental security by providing accurate information for informed decision making on various environmental issues.
Strengthening public safety
Satellite-based rapid mapping services can support civil defense and humanitarian aid activities during crises as well as supporting risk assessment and prevention efforts in the long term. Within this context ESA co-founded in 1999 the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters – an agreement of space agencies to make near-real time satellite data available to worldwide civil protection agencies.