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Ibadan, 20 June 2023. – EnduroSat’s Balkan Constellation will join the European Union (EU) and the European Space Agency (ESA) ‘s Copernicus Contributing missions after its selection. The selection happened in the presence of Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Market of the European Union, and Dr. Joseph Aschbacher, ESA DG.
The Balkan Constellation is another step for EnduroSat’s mission of making space data universally accessible. For example, Balkan-01 is a 16U NanoSat featuring a multispectral camera. As a result, its onboard processing of deep neural networks will enable new use cases for imagery analytics. The first satellite will tentatively launch in Q2 2024.
Generally, the Balkan Constellation’s 120 NanoSats will provide the Balkans and the EU with unprecedented visit time, real-time cloud-based monitoring service, and AI-powered detection. In addition, the space data will accelerate access to maritime surveillance, humanitarian, and ecological support, as well as environmental monitoring.
Speaking on the selection, Raycho Raychev, Founder & CEO EnduroSat, said, “We are honored to initiate this partnership with ESA and EU. We have been investing significant time, and efforts to democratize access to space data, and the Balkan Constellation is another step toward accomplishing our vision. Helping to build competitive Balkan space activities that contribute to the success of the Copernicus Program is a must for the future of the European space sector.”
The Copernicus Contributing Missions play a vital role in Earth observation, delivering data that complements the output of the Copernicus Sentinel missions. Comprising missions from ESA, its Member States, and other European and international third-party operators, these satellites help cover the needs of Copernicus Service Providers, particularly for very high-resolution data.
