The benefits of open science
and technological innovation for the space sector
were at the heart of the weeklong event
here in Frascati, Italy
Let’s take a look back
on the second-ever ɸ-week event
Building on the previous event
ɸ-week 2019 explored how satellite data
coupled with new digital technologies
can bring benefits to business, industry and science
Phi is for us the idea of
getting really disruptive ideas into space
Disruptive ideas
they may come internally
from activities within space
but also from the outer world
so from entertainment industry
or from other areas
mechanical engineering
whatever
So Phi means for me, really, to go beyond what we did so far
Looking beyond
PhiWeek offered a forum for emerging space investors
tech leaders, entrepreneurs, space scientists
and Earth observation researchers
to come together
to explore new opportunities
for cutting-edge technologies
such as artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
is really a game-changer for ESA and for space
It enables us to have completely new types of missions
for example having AI chips on board
being able to pre-filter the data
or take autonomous decisions for our spacecraft
Secondly, AI helps us in data exploitation
giving us the capacity to digest huge volumes of data
and to derive information
and actionable insights from these data
And last but not least
we have the area of internal efficiency
and process improvement
for example translations
and speeding up that process
that is a third area of employing AI for ESA
Pushing the frontiers of AI in space
ESA will soon launch PhiSat
PhiSat will be the first satellite
embarking artificial intelligence
and will detect clouds on the hyperspectral image of our sensor
We have implanted a ‘brain’ on the satellite
and this will be the first time that this will fly next year
Taking this concept into the next phase
the next ɸ-Sat challenge was announced this week
by ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes
The challenge invites ideas to develop PhiSat-2
and explore new frontiers
using artificial intelligence in space in an interactive way
The challenge will be open
the best idea will be winning
and we’ll launch another PhiSat in some time
as a result of this challenge
so I’m really looking forward to that
We’re offering from our side money
we offer 1 million euros as an award to the winning team
to build the satellite but also the ESA expertise
together with us...
we are putting expertise and money together
and launch another...
challenge another exciting project
Artificial intelligence
does not need to ride on a rocket
to benefit the space community
Over the course of the week
researchers presented an array of projects
on how satellite data can be used with AI
machine learning
and deep learning
to improve the understanding of our planet
and our daily lives
In my project
Automated Sea Ice Products
we make use of Earth observation data
from the Copernicus programme
and Sentinel-1 system
to automate sea-ice mapping
used for marine navigation
I’m using machine learning
and other data science methods
to study conservation efforts around the Netherlands
For data I’m using remote sensing data
coming from Sentinel
and also from other sources
trying to integrate all this information
to help conservation efforts
Satellite Earth observations are crucial
to estimate the impacts of global supply chains
In the FINEPRINT project
we use satellite data
to measure the size or the area of mines worldwide
and we also use satellite data
to estimate the crop production
like soybean, palm oil and others, and its impact
PhiWeek gave researchers the opportunity to
explore new tools being developed
that offer insight into Earth
as an interconnected system
Computer and Earth observation scientists
are harmonising different types of data
in what they call ‘data cubes’
A Data Cube is a set of variables
aligned in space and time
already pre-processed
so they’re ready for analysis
we can look at some really interesting patterns in the data
So specifically
I’m working using a system called the Earth System Data Lab
which is a data cube
to look at the relationships
between geodiversity
the diversity of the Earth System
along with photosynthesis and climate
So traditionally people would look at just climate
but using the Earth System Data lab
we’ve been able to scale up an analysis
looking at the whole system
so to look at a wider variety
of what the Earth is
and to uncover some really interesting relationships
It’s important to remember
that all of this new technology has the end-goal
of benefitting humankind
While scientists and researchers work
to improve the observations of our planet
with new technologies
entrepreneurs focus on bringing these data products
to the end user
We empower entrepreneurs around the world
to develop breakthrough solutions
that solve food and AGS prevailing challenges
and we’ve recently partnered with ESA
and we’re providing the Sentinel satellite data
to our entrepreneurs to build solutions upon
The event offered the opportunity to solidify partnerships
and create new opportunities between European research groups
industry and space agencies
such the investment in the MANTIS satellite
for the energy and mining sector
The UK Space Agency
is very pleased to witness the signing of the MANTIS contract
It’s our first project through the InCubed programme
which we are the lead funders of
This new nanosatellite
brings together expertise from UK companies and from ESA
to develop this new targeted nanosatellite
for the energy and mining sector
which will be delivering a data intelligence service
for the end customers
On the sidelines of the PhiWeek
multiple events were held
on a variety of topics from science communication
to training sessions on data processing tools
and even a bootcamp to develop innovative solutions
to solve big industry challenges using Earth observation data
This year the project was related to the energy sector
We had to come up with a way of leveraging intelligence
with satellite data
to essentially create a solution
that could be used commercially
We all come from diverse backgrounds
so it was a bit of a learning curve to begin with
but it’s been a fantastic experience
and I look forward to developing it further
And that wraps up our coverage of this year’s Phi Week
A big thank you to the organisers
the participants, and to the Web TV crew
I’m Romina Persi
on behalf of ESA
have a great day!