Polish Companies - Success at ESA. Poland Will Create A Data Repository For The Earth Observation Systems.

The meeting at the Polish Ministry of Development, involving ESA representative and the President of POLSA

An inauguration event took place at the Polish Ministry of Development, related to the “EO INNOVATION PLATFORM TESTBED POLAND” initiative, the aim of which is to create a huge satellite data repository, containing the information coming from several satellite Earth Observation systems. The initiative is going to be realized by a consortium led by the Creotech Instruments S.A. company.

This is one of the largest space initiatives that has been ordered from the Polish companies by the European Space Agency. The value of the project exceeds the amount of PLN 8 million. Due to the high importance of the project, the meeting was attended, inter alia, by professor Marek Banaszkiewicz (President of the Polish Space Agency), Jadwiga Emilewicz (undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Development) and by Guenther Landgraf, representing the European Space Agency.

Competitiveness of the Polish economy is dependent mainly on the investment in the innovative market areas which, thanks to the fact that the Ministry of Development undertakes several related initiatives, are going to become the driving force, not only for the changes within the scope of technology, but, above all, for the changes in society. I am very satisfied with the fact that collaboration with ESA is an object of intense interest for the Polish companies and research facilities. Certainly, it creates a chance for further, dynamic development of the domestic companies and it also facilitates access to the state-of-art technology.

Huge Satellite Data Repository Created By Creotech Instruments

Within the scope of the “EO Innovation Platform Testbed Poland Creotech” programme, a huge Earth Observation data repository is going to be established in Poland, collecting the data from Landsat, Evisat, Sentinel, and other satellite systems. Within the repository, data from e.g. SAR, EO or Oceanographic satellites, is going to be contained. Besides creation of the database, the Polish consortium is going to be responsible for maintaining the services that would allow the commercial users and the research facilities to acquire and process the satellite data. The database infrastructure is going to be complemented with virtual and physical computational servers, allowing the commercial users and the research facilities to use their dedicated applications.

One of the system’s advantages stems from the fact that data gathered within a variety of missions, and coming from a variety of systems, is going to be collected together. So far, this kind of information was scattered all around Europe. Should anybody be willing to use that data, he or she would have to copy it, which could last for months, and initiate the computations. Our initiative assumes that the aforementioned data is gathered at a single location, and we will bring algorithm to the data, meaning that the computational power will be made available to the users, alongside the gathered information.

There is a lot of data there. Here - we are referring to petabytes. If printed, the sheets of paper would create a pile high enough to reach the moon. Numerous companies and institutions exist, which need to process the above-mentioned data. So far, the processing was realized by downloading the data from several locations, storing it on own hard-drive, and computation was realized on own servers. Downloading such amounts of data from a remote data center is time-consuming, or even impossible to be completed, since new data often appears in the database before the old information is processed. “Bring algorithm to the data” is a concept which may be a good solution here. The huge data repository is directly connected to the computing cloud, within which all of the companies and institutions will have a chance to embed their algorithms and software, initiating them at the repository, without the need to download, copy and send large amounts of data via the Internet. Our service will make it possible, even for minor companies, to launch their space- and observation-data-related initiatives.

Access to the platform is going to be paid, however, representatives of the scientific circles will get preferential treatment. The commercial companies that offer satellite data processing services will be allowed to use a dedicated system operated on the basis of the “CloudFerro EO Cloud” IT infrastructure.

The consortium, involving the Creotech Instruments S.A. company which is the leader of the Polish space industry, also includes the Polish Cloud Ferro Sp. z o.o company, along with the German Brockmann Consult Ltd. enterprise.

The service’s architecture is an original solution, developed by the members of the consortium. Its basic advantage stems from the fact that it is going to make it possible to share the satellite data, tools and computational power required to process the data simultaneously. This is going to significantly reduce the cost and time required to launch new and provide the present services.

This is a very relevant project - as we are going to act as the sole service provider. We will have data and computational power at our disposal, however, the companies which create the products for the customers are going to be our clients. They would be allowed to process the data at our centre, and that data will be frequently updated. Updating the maps is quite significant, since e.g. these maps show difficulties in road construction process, or problems related to flooding. We are going to be acting as a services providing company for the services providing companies, which provide services related to satellite imaging - at least couple exist in Poland.

The project is going to last two years, and it is going to be realized in two stages. Test provision of the services is going to begin, once the initial implementation stage is finalized. After the tests are finished, the services will be provided on a commercial basis. The project will stand a chance of being applied globally, as a worldwide leader in the field. 

In the light of the fact that the satellites offer the coverage of the whole Earth, the market related to the space observations, is also global, as a natural result of the above. CloudFerro EO Cloud initiative is clearly focused on Europe, however, the goal is to become a global satellite data processing leader, by creating an ecosystem of collaborating companies which - thanks to the fact that the system exists - would be able to create and launch their own services.

The results of the works carried out by the engineers, all of whom are gathered within the consortium led by Creotech Instruments, may also become a foundation for a data Repository related to the important Copernicus programme, led by ESA. 

From the Polish point of view, it is also important that Poland is a participant of the Copernicus programme. This programme is in need of such data repository. And we assume that supporting Poland in creation of a data repository for the Copernicus programme may become the next step. We are able to offer a similar, or even the same solution, with increased computational power and expanded memory. This is an element of the vision related to provision of the Earth Observation services.

One of the factors that had an impact on dynamic development of the Polish space sector, and on the fact that a series of prestigious contracts has been concluded (let us recall the fact that Creotech Instruments is, besides the EO Innovation Platform Testbed, also involved in the ExoMars2016 and Proba-3 initiatives), is visible in the fact that the Polish Space Agency has been established, which, just recently, has been celebrating its first anniversary.  

One of the system’s advantages stems from the fact that data gathered within a variety of missions, and coming from a variety of systems, is going to be collected together. So far, this kind of information was scattered all around Europe. Should anybody be willing to use that data, he or she would have to copy it, which could last for months, and initiate the computations. Our initiative assumes that the aforementioned data is gathered at a single location, and we will bring algorithm to the data, meaning that the computational power will be made available to the users, alongside the gathered information.