This page provides a list of open source software resources for developing space downstream applications, in the following categories:
A short description of each entry appears when hovering over the name (left column).
Disclaimer: the information is provided as is without any guarantee, and ESA cannot be liable for any views expressed in this webpage as well as in the linked websites.
Name | Author/Developer | Format | Licence |
Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC) | Source and Executable for Linux, Windows and macOS | Apache, GPL and LGPL | |
CTTC | Source code and libs for Linux Debian, macOS. Runs on GNU Radio | ||
Takuji Ebinuma | Source code | ||
Taro Suzuki | Source and Executable for Windows | ||
Tomoji Takasu | Source and Executable for Windows | ||
ip-solutions | Executable in Windows | Free for academic use | |
Geomatics Laboratory of Politecnico di Milano, Como campus (Italy) | Source code for Matlab 2016a+ and Java | ||
UNAVCO | Executable (Windows, macOS, Linux…). Supports RINEX and BINEX formats | ||
NOAA | Executable online | ||
Canadian Geodetic Survey (CGS) | Executable online or as a desktop application. Supports RINEX files | ||
Steinbeis Transfer Centre Applied Geodesy | Java | ||
GnssLogger source code in Matlab, but you don’t need Matlab to use it | |||
Applied Research Laboratories at the University of Texas at Austin | Source and Executable (Unix, Windows, macOS) | ||
Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG) | Source and Executable for Linux, Solaris, Windows and macOS | GPU |
Name | Author/Developer | Format | Licence |
GeoTelematic Solutions, Inc. | Java | ||
Various authors | Executable (written mostly in C) | ||
OpenStreetMap Community | Data online | ||
Open Source Geospatial Foundation | Supports WFS, WMS and WCS standards | ||
CNES | Source and Executable (Linux, Windows, macOS) | ||
ESA / IETR | Executable for Windows and Linux | ||
ESA Science Toolbox Exploitation Platform (STEP) | Source and Executable (Windows, macOS, Unix) | ||
DIMITRI - Database for Imaging Multi-spectral Instruments and Tools for Radiometric Intercomparison | ESA, ARGANS, Magellium | Source code, compatible with Linux, Windows and macOS | SLA |
Noveltis | Executable online | Free online service after registration | |
Utah State University, USA | Source code, command line executable and ArcGIS toolbox GUI | ||
GRASS GIS developers community | Stand-alone application or backend for other software packages | ||
University of Hamburg, Germany | Coded in C++. Source code and GUI executable for Windows and Linux | ||
University of Guelph, Canada | Executable (Windows, Linux, macOS) | ||
CNES and CESBIO | Language: C++, Python and Cmake. OS:Linux RedHat 6+, CENTOS 6+ Ubuntu 12.04+ | ||
ESA | Linux | ||
Open Layers | API and codes | ||
LocationTech, Azavea | Library for Linux | ||
LocationTech, CCRi | Spatio-temporal index for Linux | ||
gvSIG Association | Platforms: Linux / Unix, macOSX, Windows, Android. Languages: Java, Python, Groovy, Renjin, Scala | ||
QGIS Community | Linux, Unix, macOS and Windows | ||
GeoCue Group | Executable online | Free up to 100 MB/month | |
ArcGIS | Executable online | Free online service | |
ESA | Data online | ||
GeoNames | Webservice and database exports | ||
WWF | Vector and raster data | ||
CGIAR Consortium for Spatial Information | ACII and GeoTIFF | ||
UNAVCO | Java. For Linux and Unix |
Name | Author/Developer | Format | Licence |
ns-3 project | Source code | ||
Jani Puttonen, Janne Kurjenniemi (Magister Solutions), ESA, CNES | Source code | ||
pabr@pabr.org | Executable code | ||
Ron Economos | Source code, also part of GNU Radio | ||
Ahmet Inan, Ron Economos | Source code | ||
CNES, TAS, Viveris Technologies | Source code for Linux, Windows and macOS | ||
Ben Wojtowicz, Dennis M Senyonjo | Source code in C++ and Python | ||
Various | Source code | ||
EURECOM, OPEN CELLS | Source code | ||
National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) and other contributors | Source code | ||
Orne Brocaar | Source code | ||
Cees Bassa | Source code for Linux and GNU Radio |
Name | Author/Developer | Format | Licence |
GNU Radio project | Source code for Linux, macOS | ||
MongoDB Inc. | Source and Executable (Windows, Linux, macOS, Solaris, FreeBSD) | ||
Apache Software Foundation | Source code download | ||
Apache Software Foundation | Implemented in Java, can be used with any programming language | ||
Apache Software Foundation | Standalone cluster mode, on EC2, on Hadoop YARN, on Mesos, or on Kubernetes. | ||
Collection of workflows | |||
Docker | Executable for Linux, Windows, macOS | ||
OpenStack | Executable | ||
Supervised by Jacobs University, in incubation by the OSGeo fundation | Download of packages that work on distributions with gcc 4.8+, Java 7+ | ||
Paradigm4 | Software that can run on existing hardware or in the cloud | ||
Several authors | Python library | ||
Eclipse Deeplearning4j Development Team | Libraries | ||
The Earth Engine (EE) API is available in Python and JavaScript. | |||
Microsoft | Toolkit compatible with Linux and Windows | ||
François Chollet and various | Python libraries | ||
David Cournapeau and various | Python libraries for Linux, macOS and Windows | ||
Romain Tavenard | Python package | ||
Amazon Web Services (AWS) | Python libraries | ||
Facebook AI research group | Python libraries for Linux, macOS and Windows | ||
Intel | C++ library for Windows, Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD... | ||
Wes McKinney and various | Python library | ||
NVIDIA | Executable | Free after joining the NVIDIA Developer Program | |
XGBoost community | Library, for Python, R, Java, Scala, C++ and more. Runs on single machine, Hadoop, Spark, Flink and DataFlow. | ||
GDAL community | Source and binaries for Windows, Debian and containers | ||
Open Data Cube | Collection of software base on Python library | ||
R foundation | It compiles and runs on a wide variety of UNIX platforms, Windows and macOS. | ||
Jupyter Community | Web application, executable online and for downloading. | ||
Apache Software Foundation | Executable | ||
Apache Software Foundation | Executable | ||
Kubernetes | Container | ||
Node.js is a trademark of Joyent, Inc | For Windows, macOS and Linux. | ||
Vladimir Agafonkin and others | JavaScript library | ||
Gapminder | For Windows, macOS and Linux | ||
Amazon Web Services (AWS) | Docker images, RPM files, and Debian files | ||
OGC members | Standards | Open standards | |
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), in conjunction with the original specification authors. | Format | Open standards | |
Arctic Space Technologies and ESA | Module for GNU Radio | ||
Graz University of Technology and ESA | Java source code | ||
Lacuna Space | C source code | ||
Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) | Source code for Julia | ||
European Space Agency | C and Java source code |
Name | Application domain | Description |
Multiple | ESA informational web portal created to promote reuse of Software - including Open Source Software (OSS) - and to provide all parties involved in the European Space software development (in particular SMEs) with access to results of previous investments. Registration available to ESA member states. | |
Multiple | ESA Advanced Concepts Team (ACT) resources for Open Sources projects and tools. Together with the introduction of the github and the gitlab dedicated channels for the European Space Agency and the of specific programmes such as SOCIS (the ESA summer of code in space), the ACT, over the years, developed and is now maintaining a number of open source projects that are put at the service of a wider community. | |
Multiple | The "Centre National d'Études Spatiales" has produced various software for the space projects. This software covers a broad range of topics, from normalization to space dynamics and simulation tools. Some were developed to support CNES internal needs and are now available to the public. | |
Signal processing | RTL-SDR is a USB dongle based on the RTL2832U chipset, for which many SDR software have been developped for different applications (not only satellite) | |
GNSS | The GNSS SDR Metadata Standard defines parameters and schema to express the contents of SDR sample data files. The standard is designed to promote the interoperability of GNSS SDR data collection systems and processors. | |
GNSS | Site is running since 1999. The main purpose of this site is to provide a means for distributing the source code and algorithms discussed in the GPS Toolbox column. | |
GNSS | Web-based data visualization and mapping tools provide users with the ability to view post–processed data while web-based geodetic utilities provide ancillary information. | |
Earth observation | References more than 350 open source software for processing of Earth Observation data, with categorisation and graph representation | |
Earth observation | Guide to help non experts in providing a starting point in the decision process for selecting an appropriate Earth observation (EO) solution. Includes links to public and commercial EO data providers. See also https://business.esa.int/sites/default/files/Where_to_access_EO_data_AS.pdf | |
Earth observation | List of software tools supported by ESA for Earth Observation | |
Earth observation | ESA is developing free open source toolboxes for the scientific exploitation of Earth Observation missions under the the Scientific Exploitation of Operational Missions (SEOM) programme element. STEP is the ESA community platform for accessing the software and its documentation, communicating with the developers, dialoguing within the science community, promoting results and achievements as well as providing tutorials and material for training scientists using the Toolboxes. | |
Earth observation | TEPs are collaborative, virtual work environments providing access to EO data and tools, processors, and information and communication technology resources, required to work with them, through one coherent interface. Topics: Coastal, Forestry, Hydrology, Geohazards, Polar, Urban themes, Food Security | |
Earth observation | The Copernicus Open Access Hub (previously known as Sentinels Scientific Data Hub) provides complete, free and open access to Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, Sentinel-3 and Sentinel-5P user products, starting from the In-Orbit Commissioning Review (IOCR). Sentinel Data are also available via the Copernicus Data and Information Access Services (DIAS) through several platforms. | |
Earth observation | DIAS online platforms allow users to discover, manipulate, process and download Copernicus Sentinel data and information products from Copernicus’ six operational services, together with cloud-based tools (open source and/or on a pay-per-use basis). | |
Earth observation | Sentinel Hub is operated by Sinergise - a GIS IT company with more than 10 years of experience in working with spatial data. Different applications are available online. The satellite imagery distribution service is based on Sinergise's cloud GIS platform - Geopedia - web based spatial management solution, which is being used by more than one million users annualy and is therefore perfectly suitable for large scale spatial deployments. | |
Earth observation | The Earth System Data Lab is a multi-variate data set of essential Earth System variables on a common grid and sharing a common data model. | |
Earth observation | U.S. Geological Survey -search catalogue of satellite and aerial imagery. | |
Earth observation | The ASF facility is part of the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. ASF downlinks, processes, archives, and distributes remote-sensing data to scientific users around the world. | |
Earth observation | The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to foster global adoption of open geospatial technology by being an inclusive software foundation devoted to an open philosophy and participatory community driven development. | |
Earth observation | List of free Digital Elevation Models. This project will focus on free high resolution datasets with a spatial resolution of 30 meters and below on county/state scale. | |
Earth observation | A personal collection of geodesy and related resources on the Web. Created by Mike Craymer. | |
Satellite communications | SDRmaker.space, created by Libre Space Foundation under an ESA ARTES project, is an activity framework that aims to bring together makers, open-source hackers, radio amateurs, researchers and academia from all over Greece. The website lists a number of SDR projects for satellite communications, including TT&C. | |
Satellite communications | The Comprehensive GNU Radio Archive Network (CGRAN) is a free open source repository for 3rd party GNU Radio applications (a.k.a Out Of Tree Modules) that are not officially supported by the GNU Radio project. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. For Linux OS. |
Feedback: for proposing new entries or updating information, please send an email to nicolas.girault @ esa.int.
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