- Starion’s experts in Belgium and Spain, together with our partner organisations, have started development of a platform to provide situational awareness to crisis and disaster management organisations, supported by satellite services and data.
- The 3-year Safety Platform for Crisis and Emergency (SAFEPLACE) project is an initiative within the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Civil Security from Space (CSS) programme.
- SAFEPLACE will focus on four use cases in Belgium and Spain, culminating in a live demonstration involving crisis management organisations and first responders.
PRESS RELEASE
Starion Technologies NV (Belgium) is leading a multinational consortium, including Starion España S.L.U., in the development of a new service that will provide prompt, up-to-date situational awareness information to crisis and disaster management organisations in Europe. SAFEPLACE will leverage advanced Earth observation (EO), satellite-based positioning of personnel and assets, Internet of Things (IoT) data and satellite communications (satcoms) services to help overcome challenges caused by poor communications, lack of access to the affected areas, data delays and bottlenecks and the need to identify key information from raw data.
SAFEPLACE is the next step on from ESA’s Rapid and Resilient Response (R3) accelerator, led by Starion, which showed that space-based services, namely EO, satcoms and satellite positioning and navigation, could help facilitate improved crisis response across Europe. The aim of SAFEPLACE is to augment existing crisis management systems with additional near real-time data, enabling direct communications between centres and first responders, and gathering sensor data and managing or tracking assets at the site.
The initial set of services provided by SAFEPLACE through this project phase will support use cases in Belgium (crisis events related to flooding, earthquakes and chemicals) and Spain (fire). The project will focus mainly on the early crisis and crisis response phases, although some pre-crisis management will be addressed for the fire use case. The digital platform will make use of satellite and drone imagery, big data analytics, data fusion, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, internet of things (IoT) sensor networks and the ability to navigate in areas where GNSS positioning is unavailable.
Nicola Mann, Deputy Managing Director, said: “There is an increasing need to deliver detailed, accurate and need-specific information to first responders as fast as possible when a crisis occurs, as we have seen in Europe in recent years when, for example, increasing numbers of severe flooding and fire events have occurred, causing loss of life. Satellites can provide complementary and necessary data, and our advanced data engineering and AI capabilities will allow us to rapidly convert this data to actionable information.
“The SAFEPLACE Hub will act as a secure portal to data and services provided by third parties, such as the Copernicus Emergency Management Service and commercial EO satellite constellations. We are developing a single interface to these multiple information sources that will give more precise situational awareness to operators, for example overlaying near real-time data about responder positions on the latest EO imagery, and applying AI to drone video footage to determine the likely location of victims. Then the Hub will enable the information to be delivered fast, via satcoms where appropriate, enabled by the BESecured satcom pooling and sharing service, which is the result of a previous project Starion worked on with neXat and ST Engineering.”
“We’re proud to be launching the Safeplace project,” said Laurent Jaffart, ESA’s Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications. “This project showcases Europe’s technological and industrial capabilities to benefit European citizens. By improving our ability to respond to challenges ranging from natural disasters to humanitarian crises, we’re taking a significant step towards a safer and more resilient Europe.”
Starion’s partners in the SAFEPLACE project are: Public Safety Communications Europe (PSCE), VOCSens, VITO, neXat, Centre Spatial de Liège (CSL), ST Engineering, Epic Blue (all Belgium) and Vodafone (Spain). Several supporting organisations in Belgium, Germany and Spain (see below) will provide valuable stakeholder input related to real European operational crisis management use cases and coverage of the full value chain from service providers to end-users.
In addition to being the contracting authority, ESA will, through its European Space Security and Education Centre (ESEC), play a major role in the SAFEPLACE system as well as the future of the CSS programme, as SAFEPLACE will run from the ESEC site. ESA’s ESEC can therefore be considered as a “CSS Hub”, providing (cyber)security for the SAFEPLACE system and data quality assurance to the sensor source owners and the end-user emergency centres.
There will be four pilot demonstrations in Belgium and Spain during the 3-year development programme, with a final live demonstration at Campus Vesta near Antwerp in Belgium involving first responders responding to a simulated toxic gas release caused by an earthquake.
Further information
1. Third party organisations contributing to the SAFEPLACE project include:
- Belgium: Aerospacelab, Campus Vesta, Antwerp Fire Service, Antwerp Police, Belgian Civil Protection, safe.brussels
- Germany: Bavarian Red Cross
- Spain: Agencia Valenciana de Seguridad y Respuesta a las Emergencias (AVSRE), AISTech Space
2. Statistics from the Copernicus Climate Change Service and World Meteorological Organization: European State of the Climate 2023 report:
- According to preliminary estimates from the International Disaster Database (EM‑DAT), in 2023 in Europe 63 lives were unfortunately lost due to storms, 44 to floods and 44 to wildfires. Weather- and climate-related economic losses in 2023 are estimated at more than €13.4 billion.
- 2023 was the joint warmest or second warmest year on record, depending on the dataset. Temperatures in Europe were above average for 11 months of the year, including the warmest September on record, potentially leading to more wildfires.
Source: climate.copernicus.eu/europe-experiences-widespread-flooding-and-severe-heatwaves-2023
3. About ESA’s Civil Security from Space programme:
The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space, coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its member states to conduct space programmes and activities. ESA’s Civil Security from Space (CSS) programme uses space technology to enhance security for European citizens amid climate change and digital threats. It combines expertise from ESA’s Earth Observation, Connectivity and Secure Communications, and Navigation directorates to improve civil security and crisis management for natural disasters, cyber-attacks, and infrastructure failures.
Space technology provides vital information for crisis anticipation, assessment, and communication, enabling swift action to resolve crises and minimise impact. CSS develops a comprehensive space-based infrastructure to strengthen existing terrestrial systems, improving Europe’s crisis response capabilities. By empowering industry to leverage existing and new space technologies, CSS addresses current security needs whilst preparing for future challenges.
Learn more at: connectivity.esa.int/civil-security-space
Contact details
Isabelle Roels, VP Marketing and Communications (i.roels@stariongroup.eu)
