ESA Earth Observation Ground Stations

Serco Operate ESA Earth Observation Ground Stations

Serco Europe of Brussels, Belgium, will operate and maintain Earth observation satellite data-reception ground facilities for the European Space Agency (ESA) under a contract valued at 35 million euros ($43 million) over three years, Serco announced May 26.

Under the contract, Serco and a consortium including Logica and Infoterra will operate payload-data ground systems for ESA’s Earth observation satellites including Envisat, Cryosat and Goce, as well as satellites owned by third parties to which ESA has access, including Japan’s Alos spacecraft.

The contract will begin in August and will include the Sentinel series of satellites ESA is building with the European Commission under a broad Earth observation program called Global Monitoring for Environment and Security.

Half of the work will be performed at Serco’s British and Italian facilities, with the rest done at ESA’s Esrin Earth observation division in Frascati, Italy.