Agreement signature between the European Defence Agency (EDA) and the European Union Satellite Center (SATCEN) . Photo: EDA

[Via Satellite 07-16-2016] The European Defence Agency (EDA) and the European Union Satellite Center (SATCEN) have exchanged letters to formalize their existing cooperation, in place since 2004. The letters establish a more structured cooperation, increasing the number of mutually pursued activities such as studies, workshops, projects and programs. The new enhanced relationship will also see the nomination of points of contact on both sides to facilitate communication and cooperation.

Since 2004, EDA and SATCEN have collaborated on projects such as Geospatial Information to Support Decision Making in Operations (GISMO) and GISMO 2 Persistent Surveillance Long Term Analysis (SULTAN). Both organizations perform complementary roles and activities in the space-based Earth Observation domain and more generally in the space and security sector. Whereas the EDA’s work is focused on the harmonization of requirements and plans for future capability development, SATCEN’s activity supports the EU by providing products and services resulting from the exploitation of space assets, particularly in the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) field.

EDA and SATCEN have also identified specific cooperation areas such as imagery exploitation, geospatial analysis and applications, future space-based Earth observation systems, cybersecurity, big data exploitation in the space and security domain, Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and maritime surveillance. The two agencies also intend to develop a joint roadmap for cooperation detailing activities of common interest.