Big Data: mining 'new oil' from space for use on Earth

In-Depth

Space technology acquires and generates significant amounts of data that can be put to use on Earth for a myriad of tasks, including a project to keep birds and aircraft apart

Earth

Engineer Towers exists in an open plan tundra inhabited by occasional naysayers yet to grasp the benefits of sending assets into orbit around Earth.

This is a pity, as Earth observation (EO), satellite communications (SATCOMs), and Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) have cumulatively benefited businesses and enriched the lives of millions of people through, for example, establishing weather patterns that help aircraft optimise fuel consumption; linking otherwise disconnected and remote regions; or providing precise positioning and guidance (the naysayers might want to think about how their pictures are geo-tagged in Facebook).

These are just three broad areas in which significant quantities of data can be exploited on Earth, and ESA Business Applications are keen to hear from – and provide funding to – businesses that can monetise data acquired by space assets. So far, ESA Business Applications has enabled data from satellites to transform businesses on Earth with €200m invested in over 500 businesses.

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