Space data

CONTENTS
ANALYSING THE UK SPACE INDUSTRY
1. IS THE UK FALLING BEHIND?
2. STRATEGY
3. DRIVING AND STALLING FACTORS
SPACE DATA’S COMMERCIAL USE CASE STUDIES AND IMPACTS
1. PRECISION AGRICULTURE
2. CLIMATE CHANGE AND DISASTER RESILIENCE
3. URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSPORT MONITORING
FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
APPENDIX
WHAT IS SPACE DATA?

https://asdaf.space/what-is-space-data/

Space Data is the collection of data using Earth-orbit monitoring equipment like satellites and
space shuttles. To obtain information about Earth’s surface Space-based Earth observation
data (SBEO) is collected, while telescopes, laboratories, and rovers expand our understanding
of the universe.
Space is an extraordinary business. It enables us all to enjoy the benefits of communication,
entertainment, and mapping and managing our lives, virtually anywhere on the surface of our
planet. It stretches the innovative skills of our best scientists and engineers and it inspires
young people to develop the skills to push forward the frontiers of scientific knowledge. Most
importantly it offers the promise of helping the human race to solve some of the biggest
challenges it will face over the next few decades.
The UK punches above its weight in the global space business. Since the Space Innovation
and Growth Strategy was published in February 2010, we have achieved an enormous
amount. We have created the Space Leadership Council, the UK Space Agency and the
Satellite Applications Catapult and brought ESA’s European Centre for Space Applications
and Telecommunications (ECSAT) to the UK. Government, industry, business and academia
have worked together to create major successes for the industry and the UK economy.

To provide UK space businesses with clear direction so that they can reap these rewards, the
Strategy is to, identify the highest impact opportunities where resources will be targeted.
Priority areas include developing and levelling up the UK’s world-class space clusters, from
Durham to Newport, using space technology to improve public services and our transport
system, as well as investing in the UK’s most innovative space products, building on the
government’s recent Innovation Strategy.

The National Space Strategy also prioritises international collaboration, building on the s
recent UK – Australia ‘Space bridge’ success and seeking to establish new trade partnerships
with global space allies. It reiterates the important role the UK will continue to play as part of
the European Space Agency, while also leading international `3413`3 at the UN to promote
space safety, security and sustainability – holding other nations to account for their actions.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bold-new-strategy-to-fuel-uks-world-class-space-
sector#:~:text=The%20Strategy%20brings%20together%20the,interests%20at%20home
%20and%20abroad.

 National Space Strategy sets out long-term plans to strengthen the UK’s status as a world-
class space nation
 New vision will help grow UK’s multibillion-pound space industry, boost private
investment and capitalise on UK strengths such as sa4rwextellite manufacturing
 Brings together UK government civil and defence space activities to protect UK interests
at home and abroad
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bold-new-strategy-to-fuel-uks-world-class-space-
sector#:~:text=The%20Strategy%20brings%20together%20the,interests%20at%20home
%20and%20abroad
Analyse the UK space industry https://www.gov.uk/ government/publications/the-size-and-
health-of-the-UK-space-industry-2021/size-and-health-of-the-UK-space-industry-2021
List commercial case studew3ies of the uses,
why is space data considered the new big data?
how does it impact organisations and sectors to achieve digital transformation?
ANALYSIS OF THE UK SPACE INDUSTRY

The benefits from delivering this Space Growth Action Plan are tangible. Billions of pounds worth of
new exports, up to 100,000 skilled jobs in a leading edge sector, a range of new value-adding
applications and a vibrant regional SME sector spread across the UK.

The UK space sector is growing faster than the rest of the UK economy, and the average
worker in the space sector is 2.6 times more productive than in other sectors.3 It is worth over
£16.4 billion per year, employs over 45,000 people, and satellites underpin £360 billion per
year of wider economic activity.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/
attachment_data/file/1034313/national-space-strategy.pdf

WHY IS SPACE DATA CONSIDERED THE NEW BIG DATA?

They found that thanks to the ever-growing number of increasingly affordable satellite
services, new uses for “space data” are opening up across many industries. In farming,
satellite data can be used to monitor factors which influence crop yield. In real estate, areas
prone to flooding or sinkholes can be more accurately identified, impacting property
developments and prices. In retail, foot traffic around shopping centres can be monitored in
real-time, giving an increased overview of how customers behave.

“Overview” is the operative word, with space data – according to Sparks & Honey CEO
Terry Young, who told me “The idea was to look at the innovations that are going to be
created over the next 15 years on our journey to Mars and beyond, and to find from those
innovations – which are very science or engineering-focused – what the implications are for
organisations and consumers, back here on Earth.

“We’ve been talking about Big Data for a long time, and this takes us on the journey to start
understanding space data and space analytics. Not too many people in the commercial sector
have got their hands around it yet, they don’t fully understand the implications of all of this
data.”

Because of the traditionally sky-high cost of launching satellites and keeping them in space,
where they can generate data with cameras, sensors and scanners, most application of space
data have in the past been carried out by Governments.

In the public sector, they have long been used to monitor conflicts, track the flow of refugees
and gather terrestrial or space data for research purposes.

But with public investment in space at one-tenth of the level, in real terms, of what it was
during the Apollo era when we reached the moon, the slack has since been picked up by
private enterprise. Thanks to the likes of SpaceX, founded by Tesla entrepreneur Elon Musk,
as well as hundreds of startups, billions will be spent in the coming decade on creating
infrastructure. The exciting part for the industry is that much of this data will become
available for organisations whose business is not primarily space-based.

Additionally, according to one contributor, the cost of launching a satellite has fallen to a
level where it is comparable to the cost of developing and launching an app.

“Something which is hovering above the Earth and providing a perspective from above is
creating a very unique dataset. Roughly 35% of the satellites in orbit right now are there for
commercial purposes, and those satellites have been driven by venture capital money. A lot
of startups are providing low-orbit satellites for a wide range of different uses.”

Considering one industry – agriculture – the implications are enormous. Farmers can use
image data to better understand what factors affect the growth of crops, and some factors can
be detected from space, such as weather patterns, exposure to sunlight, air quality or pest
activity, so optimum conditions can be determined.

“We covered ideas like being able to observe things like water shortage, as it relates to
manufacturing processes, and traffic patterns in large cities as we are looking towards
building cities of the future and their infrastructure. We can even translate it to big retail,
where all of a sudden we can capture real-time data on hundreds of stores simultaneously and
use it to look at foot traffic patterns”, Young says.

Astronauts who blast into space talk about what they call the “overview effect” – a sense of
gaining a deeper understanding of the planet as it is, as they see it with their eyes, suspended
in the void, for the first time. If the findings of this report bear out, then it’s likely that many
businesses and organisations will soon be able to achieve a similar level of cognitive
evolution themselves when they augment their Big Data with the biggest data of all – Space
Data. https://bernardmarr.com/why-space-data-is-the-new-big-data/

COMMERCIAL USE OF SPACE DATA, USE IN EARTH OBSERVATION

BY UK GOVERNMENT
Space Technologies: Space is a vital part of the UK’s economy. Satellites and space activities
deliver navigation, weather forecasting, power grid monitoring, financial transactions, and
better public services. Satellites also support television services to millions of UK households
as well as other digital communications. The technologies we develop and knowledge we
gain through space support our wellbeing, provide services for our everyday lives, and help
us support other countries and meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Space Security Systems: . From the first warning of imminent attacks and tracking of
potentially hostile activity, to missile warning systems, space systems underpin the
capabilities that keep us safe and competitive. Space is defined as part of the UK’s critical
national infrastructure (CNI). CNI also relies on a wide range of resilient space technologies
including position, navigation and timing (PNT) services and we have committed to making
these services more resilient for both CNI users and our wider economy.

Space tourism operators are flying their first customers on suborbital spaceflights and robotic
servicing spacecraft are extending the lives of older satellites and clearing space debris.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/
attachment_data/file/1034313/national-space-strategy.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/space-data-helping-earth-adapt-to-challenges-of-
climate-change

We use satellites to monitor and map crops to enable more productive agriculture to
sustainably feed a growing global population. And countries with capable space systems can
lead the way in tackling challenges that face the entire globe, such as the fight against climate
change and biodiversity loss.

Space data helping Earth adapt to challenges of climate change

Satellite data will be used to monitor and map heat in locations at greatest risk from climate
change in one of two new projects being backed by the UK Space Agency.
Satellite data will be used to monitor and map heat in locations at greatest risk from climate
change in one of two new projects being backed by the UK Space Agency.

The first project is a collaboration between the National Centre for Earth Observation
(NCEO) and Ordnance Survey (OS), which will provide meaningful insights for policy-
makers to manage the impacts of climate change in hot spots across the UK and beyond.

Using NCEO land surface temperature data derived from thermal infra-red sensors in space,
OS will then help customers understand and identify how the data can be applied effectively.

The UK Space Agency is also supporting a prototype Climate Risk Index tool that delivers
risk assessments based on satellite and climate data to help the insurance sector provide vital
financial products to those at risk from droughts and wildfires.

Both schemes have been unveiled ahead of British ESA astronaut Tim Peake’s attendance at
COP26, the United Nations climate change conference being hosted by the UK in Glasgow.
Tim will be visiting the Space4Climate stand where he will answer questions from young
people and talk about how space is helping to monitor and tackle climate change.

Beth Greenaway, Head of Earth Observation and Climate at the UK Space Agency, said:

The UK is leading the way in using space to monitor, understand and tackle climate change.

Both of these new projects will provide decision-makers with vital information to help deal
with the effects of climate change and improve lives around the world.

The latest UK climate projections show a hot summer like 2018 is likely to occur every other
year by 2050, by which time the number of heat-related deaths could more than triple from
today’s level in the absence of additional adaptation; from around 2,000 per year to around
7,000.

As many as 1.2 billion people around the world could face heat stress conditions by 2100 if
current levels of global warming continue.

The Earth observation data used in the pilot will indicate extreme events and locations that
may show greater risk to human health, such as cities where heat stress is a particular
concern. By providing easier and better access to insightful evidence through the pilot and
through working with the Office for National Statistics, the UK public sector will be able to
tackle climate change more effectively with accurate data from space.

Donna Lyndsay, Innovation Lead, Ordnance Survey, said:

By working collaboratively with the UK Space Agency and leading scientists, OS will use its
mapping capabilities to identify areas at greatest risk from global warming using satellite
data. The outcome will be to share the learnings from accessing the Earth observation data so
that governments and businesses in the UK and globally, have meaningful insights and
evidence to support resilience and adaption plans in relation to the climate crisis.

Geospatial data is already supporting how we respond to climate change and contributing
towards achieving net-zero. This project demonstrates how collaboration can deliver
innovative and actionable solutions to help tackle the climate crisis and ensure we meet our

sustainability goals.”

Satellite image showing London land surface temperature. Credit: NCEO and University of
Leicester

Dr Darren Ghent, a National Centre for Earth Observation scientist at the University of
Leicester, said:

Satellite observations of land surface temperatures, and their change, are increasingly
recognised as being able to provide unique and detailed knowledge to better facilitate the
understanding of climate change and thus to inform planning and ‘climate-adaptive’ policies
to deal with extreme events, such as heatwaves.

The second project will see Telespazio UK, in collaboration with Assimila, developing a pilot
of a Climate Risk Index tool, known as CRISP. Using climate data from an ensemble of
climate project models, historical reanalysis and Earth Observation data the prototype will
focus on two examples – agricultural drought and wildfires – to show insurance companies
how to use the data in their own assessments to benefit the finance sector.

The government’s new National Space Strategy pledged to work closely with the financial
sector, including identifying the risk of climate change impacts and the UK space sector is
keen to lead the way in climate related risk disclosures that impact the financial sector.

Geoff Busswell, Head of Marketing and Sales at Telespazio UK, said:

With the UK set to enforce mandatory reporting on climate-related financial disclosures from
April 2022, we need to be prepared and able to deliver clear, reliable, and comprehensive
information on the understanding of risk and impacts of climate.

Telespazio in collaboration with Assimila are at the forefront of harnessing the power of
Earth Observation data to improve reporting in the financial sector and subsequently enable
better informed, climate aware decision-making.

CRISP builds on work by the Space4Climate (S4C) Climate Risk Disclosure task group. The
S4C work provides the underlying technical capability to determine climate indices – based
on consistent identification of extreme climate events and changes in sea level derived from
different long-term data records of Earth Observation and climate re-analysis datasets.