The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected Airbus as one of four suppliers for the Copernicus Data and Information Access Service (DIAS) under a four-year contract.

DIAS will ensure easy availability of data and information to the users through a cloud computing architecture to facilitate coordination and cross-fertilisation at European Union (EU) level, as well as among member state or regional level initiatives.

Airbus official Mathilde Royer-Germain said: “As a major contributor to the Copernicus programme, Airbus is proud to be part of this new phase that combines Earth Observation data acquisition with new and efficient technologies such as Cloud computing.

“DIAS will simplify the data access for European citizens and will boost the creation of new business models based on Earth Observation.”

Copernicus is an Earth observation programme that provides accurate and timely accessible information to understand and enhance management of the environmental issues, as well as mitigate climate change effects.

“DIAS will simplify the data access for European citizens and will boost the creation of new business models based on Earth Observation.”

To facilitate data dissemination without the need to transfer or store data in their own computer systems, the EC and ESA decided to enable users to utilise Copernicus data and information.

Under the new contract, Airbus will lead a consortium that includes Orange, Capgemini, CLS and Vito to create and manage the system to access Copernicus data.

Airbus will be responsible for managing, coordinating all technical contributors, system engineering and integration of the system.

Following its entry into the service, the company will continue to develop and operate DIAS in coordination with associated parties.

Initial operations are set to start in six months and will involve the demonstration of the infrastructure capabilities, preliminary access to data sets and initial service delivery.