UK Space Agency Chief Executive Dr Paul Bate has assumed the Chair of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), the international body responsible for coordinating observations of the Earth from space.
Data from Earth observation satellites can deliver significant public benefits in areas such as climate and biodiversity monitoring, disaster management, clean energy, and urban planning.
As CEOS celebrates its 40th anniversary at the annual CEOS Plenary in Montreal, the CEOS Community of space and meteorological agencies and other groups has also renewed its collective commitment to CEOS’ mission and efforts in responding to global challenges for the good of humanity, with the agreement of the Montreal Statement.
Minister for Space, Sir Chris Bryant, said: “The UK has vast expertise to offer the international space community, including government backing to help spaceports and rocket manufacturers develop our launch capability at pace.
“Data from satellites supports our critical sectors and services across the UK, from supporting farmers to manage their land for food production to speeding up responses to extreme weather like flooding.”
The UK’s expertise in Earth observation
The UK is involved in various Earth observation satellite missions contributing to global capabilities.
These include leadership of the European Space Agency’s TRUTHS mission, which will improve confidence in climate forecasts; Biomass, which will monitor the world’s forests; Microcarb, a ground-breaking French-UK satellite mission for carbon monitoring; and the various Sentinel missions of the European Copernicus programme with its associated user-facing Services.
In addition to these missions, the UK is an expert in using data for applications ranging from cutting-edge science to operational services and new commercial and public sector services.
The UK Space Agency’s role as CEOS Chair will be to oversee CEOS’s activities and ensure they achieve the objectives of its work plan.
Unlocking the benefits of Earth observation satellites for society
The UK Space Agency has proposed four priorities to champion data-driven solutions for major global challenges over the 12-month period as Chair, within the theme of ‘Unlocking Earth Observation for Society’:
- Using Earth observation satellites to improve public services.
- Increasing use of space data in the Global Stocktakes of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
- Supporting the development of Methane emissions measurement best practices.
- Inspiring the next generation through a new ‘CEOS in Schools’ initiative.
As Chair, an early task will be to represent CEOS on the global stage and promote its goals and objectives, starting at next month’s COP-29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, and continuing throughout 2025.
Dr Paul Bate, CEO of the UK Space Agency, concluded: “For 40 years, CEOS has been uniting the global community to champion the transformative potential of Earth observation satellites.
“I’m proud to be chairing this globally-valued committee and will use the next year to demonstrate how, by working together across borders, we can harness space technology to benefit our societies, shared environment, and economies.”
