We have all seen over the last 2 years how the EO services sector has been changing. New commercial satellite systems, cloud storage and processing, big data technologies and machine learning or artificial intelligence are all having a huge impact on the business models of EO service providers. Despite these changes, even today 90-95% of the business is for what we call bespoke services ie one product for one customer.
This will certainly change and our survey earlier this year showed that the companies in the market consider that in 5 years, on-line services will make up 25% of their business. This would represent a growth rate of 30-40% which is certainly of interest and shows why new players are coming into the market.
In Europe, the Copernicus programme also continues to have a heavy influence on the market and EARSC is working with the European Commission to enhance the possibilities for companies to benefit from the world’s most significant operational satellite programme. We organise workshops and increasingly trade missions to other countries interested to become closer linked to Copernicus.
Now, as we approach the 3rd decade of the 21st century, the EU starts to prepare its next budget (2021-2027) including what should be the next steps for Copernicus. We prepared a position paper in the summer (download it here) setting out industry views and the EC is organising a consultation meeting with the industry on 12th December in Brussels. This is open to all companies engaged in the EO sector (upstream and downstream) and I encourage all with an interest in how Copernicus enters the next decade to attend. This is an important workshop to listen to the industry and if their views are not expressed then it will be too late to raise concerns later.
The arrangements for the provision of data, the data policy, the set-up of the Copernicus services, the evolution of these services and most importantly the role of industry in all these aspects will help shape the EO industry of the future. It is not too late to register. Contact us if you wish to have further details.