Priorities for Earth Observation set out in National Space Strategy delivery plan

The Government has set out its ‘National Civil Earth Observation Priorities’ in National Space Strategy in Action, published on July 19th. The document builds on the 2021 National Space Strategy, setting out policies for its delivery. It includes Earth Observation (EO) priorities which it describes as setting ‘outcomes for the UK EO sector that will deliver the ambitions’ covers EO over the next five to ten years.

It includes updates on progress of the National Space Strategy (NSS) and reiterates the UK’s recent investments in the space sector and in the European Space Agency (ESA). It picks out the UK expertise and investment in the TRUTHS satellite and the MicroCarb joint mission with France, as exemplars of the UK’s ‘deep partnership’ with ESA.

Krupa Nanda Kumar, Space4Climate’s Climate Services Development Manager, reacted to the report’s publication, saying: “Space4Climate welcomes the next steps outlined in National Space Strategy in Action, particularly in driving capabilities to deliver data and services generated from space, to support both national and global climate action.”

The report covers space-enabled research and technology for climate and for defence and in our highlights, below, we have selected sections most relevant to the UK  climate data from space community.

Picking up the pillars theme of the NSS, Pillar 3 ‘Growing as a science superpower’ covers investment in EO and reflects on bilateral programmes and collaboration with ESA.

Pillar 4 ‘Developing resilient capabilities’ includes EO.

Earth services

Three priorities and four capabilities on the domestic and international fronts are the focus points of the ‘Earth services’ section:

Use space-enabled services to serve the citizen more efficiently and effectively:

• Deliver better public services with ubiquitous access using the best evidence whilst driving efficiencies
• Underpin the resilience of other sectors (for example food production and natural resource management) and respond to emergencies on Earth (flooding, natural disasters etc)
• Leverage the data derived from space-based observations to contribute to defining solutions to global challenges
• Mobilise data derived from space assets to the wider community

Develop existing and new space–enabled services in the UK and globally:

• Define missions based on user needs and secure longevity of service through government custom
• Develop a UK space ecosystem that is more environmentally sustainable while delivering increased private investment, growth, competition, and innovation
• Build out the skills and capabilities to interpret the data and insights
• Commercialise new space-enabled services from world-leading science

Build international collaborations to burden-share space-enabled service delivery and deliver larger scale impact and benefits:

• Ensure that scientists in key areas such as methane, land temp, ocean circulation etc. can remain world leading
• Have national space capability that is attractive to our partners

So, we seek the capability to:

1. Use space-derived and enabled data at all levels of government and across departmental boundaries to inform and improve public service delivery and real-time decision-making, long-term policy making and responses to future threat scenarios, supporting both civil and defence users from dual-use platforms
2. Access high-quality, timely and trusted space-derived data(with long-term availability) on the UK and the planet, combine with complementary space and non-space data sources, and contribute to the improvement of global data sets, ensuring space data assets and resources are appropriately quality-assured, curated, and stored
3. Provide ubiquitous and resilient coverage and access to space-enabled applications across the whole of the UK to improve productivity and quality of life and enable Internet of Things / Machine-to-Machine applications
4. Ensure and improve spectrum efficiency and resilience.

UK priorities for civil Earth Observation

The report expands on the UK’s strategy to achieve its NSS ambitions to stay at the forefront of EO technology and expertise.

It states: “These priorities build on the strengths of our world-leading EO sector and set out the ambitious, sector-specific outcomes that will deliver long term sustainable growth and support innovative use of EO for commercial and public services.

“Earth Observation (EO) data is utilised by a wide range of scientific and industrial application areas, and is therefore critical to a variety of government departments and public services e.g. informing policy decisions, monitoring environmental changes, and enhancing security measures. DSIT will lead coordination of these EO priorities and convene Whitehall, and wider public sector organisations who are invested in the development, delivery, and use of EO data to meet the UK’s needs to optimise HMG use of EO data and support for the sector. In particular, DSIT will continue to work closely with Defence as they develop their Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance programme to identify opportunities for dual use activity across the civil priority areas.

“Collectively, they will shape and impact the breadth of the EO value chain”

Commercial EO

In ‘Piloting access-models for commercial EO Data’ the report comments:

“Throughout 2023/24 the Geospatial Commission is piloting a new access model for commercial EO data in order to drive innovative applications in the public sector and increase understanding of this fast-evolving market. The year-long pilot will give participants access to commercial high resolution EO data and services, with a view to unlocking the high potential value of EO within critical public services and policies, including responding to domestic security threats, emergency response, tracking climate change and enabling land use planning.

“Through the pilot we will build our understanding of the maturity of the EO data and technology market, the maturity of demand and use across the public sector and potential next steps to help the public sector to act as an intelligent customer in this market.”

Key outcomes relating to EO

The EO priorities are based on feedback from the UK EO sector, including government, academia, and industry stakeholders  ambitions for the next five to ten years.

The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) proposes to map existing activity and identify new opportunities for government intervention, adding ‘whether as a funder, customer, regulator or convener’ to drive successfully reaching its targets. Its priorities relating to EO include:

Growth

Create a dynamic EO business environment that fosters innovation and commercialisation and unlocks global market opportunities, to drive prosperity and growth across the entire UK:

• Invest in EO projects and missions that enhance national capabilities and create opportunities for the UK sector to commercialise and export technology and data to overseas markets.
• Stimulate new and innovative uses of EO data and technologies, enabling multiple sectors from forestry to agriculture and aquaculture to become more environmentally responsible, positioning the UK as a global leader in EO-enabled green economic activities and sustainable finance.

Leadership

In partnership with other government departments, set out a clear vision to grow national EO capabilities, safeguard our national critical infrastructure by providing resilience against natural threats and disasters and increase EO investment to support our world leading EO science, commercial growth and efficient public services.

Create a strong and resilient EO sector that is led by a long-term national strategy that drives economic growth, delivers science excellence, enhances public services, and fosters strong collaborations between government, industry, and academia

• Improve public sector use of EO-data for decision-making and policy development at all levels within government: building on the UK’s established capability to analyse and use EO data for critical public services, the UK Geospatial Strategy 2030 aims to develop our understanding of the integral role that EO data plays in the UK economy more widely. The Geospatial Commission has invested £700k in an EO pilot initiative that is providing up to 35 public sector bodies with 12 months of access to EO data and services. This initiative will support fast-evolving EO technology market, encourage demand for innovative EO technology and support the public sector to become an intelligent anchor customer through efficient and transparent procurement that reduces administrative burdens and encourages innovation
• Maximise national investment by developing links between the civil and defence EO activity to create innovative civil and defence dual-use EO programmes, that share and maximise the development, access and use of UK EO infrastructure, technology, data and tools

Technology

Push new frontiers of EO for the future needs of the UK and the world by developing new EO technologies, capabilities and fundamental knowledge that enables the UK to engage meaningfully in international programmes:

• Capitalise on the UK’s strength in small satellites to be the world’s leading supplier of small satellites and their technologies, to enhance development of EO services
• Create a comprehensive end-to-end technology ecosystem (from developing novel and low Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) EO technologies through to the technical delivery of missions for the UK) that enables the UK to lead and participate in specific future mission opportunities.

Data

Make the UK a global centre for trusted EO data, quality assurance and standards, to secure reliable, long-term access to high-quality, timely EO data for the current and future needs of UK government, academic and commercial sectors:

• Build on existing capability to create cutting edge integrated EO Data architecture, which creates competitive advantage for the UK by providing user-friendly access to timely, interoperable data from multiple sources for the benefit of government, industry and academia
• Develop world-leading, next generation calibration and validation systems, especially on-orbit traceable measurements systems, and quality assured EO data, to enable competitive advantage whilst tackling global challenges such as food and water security, climate science and services and EO applications.

Climate, weather and environment

Capitalise on the UK’s world-leading capabilities in climate, weather and the environmental sciences and services to inform and improve national and global resilience to the impacts of climate change, disaster monitoring and extreme weather:

• Support the development of the next generation of weather services and satellites for longer range, higher resolution models which provide useful and actionable climate information for mitigation, adaptation and early warning systems that improve national and global resilience to extreme weather events
• Provide global leadership in the fight against climate change to incentivise behaviour change that will enable us to monitor, mitigate and adapt to climate impacts, biodiversity loss and disasters; and support the global effort to better understand and predict changing environments, by using EO-enabled science, applications and monitoring services.

International

Enhance the UK’s credibility as a major global contributor to the development and use of EO to achieve shared international economic and scientific goals:

• Strengthen the UK’s position as a member of the European Space Agency (ESA) and European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), and maximise impact of the UK’s role in Group on Earth Observation (GEO) and Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) to support international collaboration, influence international standard setting, and increase opportunities to demonstrate UK world-leading capabilities
• Reset the UK relationship with the EU Copernicus programme, either as a participating member or as a supportive third party, with an open dialogue about future collaboration.
• Cultivate and harness bilateral relationships with international partners including European countries and Five Eyes to encourage collaboration, inward investment, share expertise and unite on global challenges.

Minister for Science, Research and Innovation, George Freeman introduced the report, saying: “This publication is all about putting the flesh on the bones of our ambition and our strategy, adding detail and deliverable policies and products, to give commercial business and investors the long-term confidence in UK space.”