UK, Spain and Portugal partner on space project to tackle climate change
The completed Atlantic Constellation will include 16 satellites designed to improve disaster and climate monitoring
The UK Space Agency has joined forces with Spain and Portugal on their far-reaching Atlantic Constellation project, an initiative that will greatly contribute to the study of climate change and disaster management from the heavens.
Down the line, the Constellation will eventually be comprised of 16 separate satellites complete with EO and telecommunications payloads, capable of measuring climate change indicators which will then inform agricultural and energy practices around the globe.
The project is still in its infancy and, according to Spanish aerospace company Elecnor Deimos, the UK is coming in on the ground level with the promise to build the first satellite valued at almost 3.5 million euros. This is in addition to the three being constructed in Portugal and will be manufactured by the British outfit Open Cosmos.
“Building a shared satellite constellation is a very effective way of having high revisit diverse data over each region of interest,” Rafael Jorda Siquier, Open Cosmos chief, said in a statement.
“The UK joining Portugal and Spain in the Atlantic Constellation is a major step forward in the national Earth Observation strategy, and we are very proud that Open Cosmos has been contracted to deliver the first UK pathfinder satellite.”
The announcement, which was made at the UK Space Conference in Belfast on Wednesday November 29, didn’t give any hint about when the group hopes to launch the first satellites.
Image: Freepik
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