Catapult and UK Space Agency simplify access to Earth observation data

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The Satellite Applications Catapult, an independent technology and innovation company, has joined with the UK Space Agency to provide an accessible ‘Data Hub’ that makes it much easier to identify where satellite data can be obtained and what it can be used for.

Satellite data has historically only been available to specialists and scientists who use specific tools to interpret the data. However, there has been a massive increase in Earth observation data being offered by both public and private satellite operators, which could benefit many commercial and research organisations in the UK. In response to this opportunity, the Catapult and UK Space Agency have jointly developed the Data Hub, with facilities and tools to allow a far wider audience to understand what satellite data is available and from where.

Stuart Martin, CEO of the Satellite Applications Catapult, said: “By creating a hub that describes where satellite data can be found and information on what the satellite data can be used for, we hope to enable the wider use of satellites for evidence-based decision making, information gathering and environment monitoring.” 

Stuart continued: “Satellite data is available from many different sources and in many different formats. Through our new Data Hub we hope to aggregate links to the satellite data suppliers through a single application interface and, where possible, make the raw data available for exploration and download.”

Access to satellite data varies from free and open to commercial and licensed. The Data Hub will list access rights for each data set, based on details given by the data providers.

If you would like to find out more about this innovative new Data Hub, please contact: earthobservation@sa.catapult.org.uk  or visit data.satapps.org.