State-owned satellites on the cards
The construction of the first Greek state satellites out of a total of 13 for which an open tender was announced earlier in the year will reportedly begin in a month’s time.
The satellites will be able to provide data and services to multiple agencies of the Greek government, such as the ministries of Environment, Energy, Rural Development, Climate Crisis, Civil Protection, Maritime Affairs, as well as the armed forces.
The satellites will help save significant resources as Greece currently has to buy data.
They will be of three types. Ones that will provide detailed multipurpose images of the entire Greek territory and will cover a wide range: the land register, illegal building, environmental pollution on land and sea, land plots and illegal occupation of coastal areas. Another type will provide thermal data, to monitor fires, especially in the evening hours, when aerial means cannot be deployed. The data from satellites will give more precise information to firefighters. On a broader level, the satellite data and the products that will result from its processing will support the country’s efforts to continuously monitor environmental changes to help address climate change.
The third type will be radar satellites, mainly dealing with national security issues, such as surveying military installations, while also contributing valuable data in the event of earthquakes or floods. They will be able to see inside a facility, under debris, and ascertain the depth of a flood.
The project is being implemented through the European Space Agency (ESA) with funding from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan Greece 2.0 and has a total budget of €60 million. The ultimate goal is to create seven satellites from the first category (construction will begin in a month), four from the second category, and two from the third – with the first of the latter expected in around a year and a half.
