This is a false-colour image captured by Sentinel-2A on Feb. 22, 2016 over north-eastern Iran. Visible in the centre of the image and at the top left are alluvial fans. Photo: ESA.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected Atos to deliver and operate Copernicus Data and Information Access Services (DIAS). The DIAS will combine real-time data from the Copernicus Earth Observation (EO) program with data from multiple sources, and turn it into information products for companies in sectors such as manufacturing, insurance, utilities, agriculture, forestry, urbanism and emergency services.

On behalf of the European Commission and ESA, Atos will lead a newly created consortium, composed of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), e-Geos, EOX, GAF, Sinergise, Spacemetric, Thales Alenia Space and T-Systems. Atos will be responsible for integrating, delivering and operating the cloud platform that will integrate specialized data sources.

This new platform will make the data from the European Union constellation of Sentinel satellites and from data providers more accessible, making it possible for third parties — industrial players, institutions such as national space agencies, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups — to build innovative business services based on satellite data. Atos, with its partners, will build and commercialize the new services.

According to the European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC), the market for services based on Earth observation data is expected to grow by 10 percent to 15 percent over the next few years, with multiplication of innovative services in many areas.

Atos’ new platform will be available to customers in June.