A few months after the European Space Agency ministerial council in Luxemburg, Telespazio France, the French subsidiary of the Telespazio group (Finmeccanica/Thales), e-GEOS (subsidiary of the Italian Space Agency and Telespazio) the wholly state-owned postal and telecommunications company POST Luxembourg and the SME HITEC Luxembourg, have announced their strategic partnership in the EarthLab programme.
These partners invest in the setting up of a Joint Venture for the establishment of the EarthLab Luxembourg centre, the first European centre for environment monitoring dedicated to industrial and environmental risks. The new Joint Venture is consolidated by the support from the Luxembourg government, in the frame of its willingness to develop applications and added value services relying on satellite infrastructures.
During a press conference held at the Ministry of the Economy in Luxembourg on 9 June 2015, all stakeholders promoted the assets of the EarthLab Luxembourg centre combining the Earth Observation last generation satellite means with the new digital technologies.
Industrial initiative complementary to the European programme Copernicus defined and managed by the European Commission, the EarthLab Luxembourg centre will combine a unique expertise in R&D and innovative service provision, supporting tools for risk assessment. The Luxembourg local team will quickly define and propose a first offer portfolio of geo-information services for industry, insurance and investment fund stakeholders.
Supported by the Luxembourg government, the EarthLab Luxembourg centre is the third centre of the international EarthLab Galaxy programme initiated by Telespazio France (Finmeccanica/Thales company), after the setting up by 2013 of EarthLab Aquitaine, the original centre in partnership with the Aquitaine region council, and of EarthLab Gabon, in partnership with the Gabonese government, represented by the AGEOS, the Gabonese Agency for Space Studies and Observations, and the FGIS, the Gabonese Strategic Investment Fund.
“I am proud of this agreement, in one of historical countries of the European space industry, that demonstrate the assets of our EarthLab Galaxy programme and consolidate this partnership approach towards an active dissemination of space-based services”, declared Jean-Marc GARDIN, Deputy CEO of Telespazio Group and CEO of Telespazio France, that will be with e-GEOS, the first shareholder of the EarthLab Luxembourg SA Joint Venture.
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Economy Étienne Schneider stated: “The setting up of the Earthlab centre in Luxembourg, in a strategic partnership with national companies like POST or HITEC, is the fruit of the unfailing commitment of the Luxembourg government in diversifying and in innovating in key technology sectors like space or ICT. A project like Earthlab Luxembourg and its national economic benefits retroactively justify the accession of the Grand-Duchy to the European Space Agency.”
Photo by 101 Studios
