New satellite to help with monitoring of natural disasters
James Thorpe
Share this content
A new satellite is set to be developed to help scientists monitor natural disasters and climate change.
The UK Space Agency will be jointly funding the project alongside satellite company, Open Cosmos, based in Oxfordshire, UK.
“Valuable and regularly updated data”
This project will see the UK join Spain and Portugal on a £70m project named Atlantic Constellation.
The satellite is expected to provide scientists with “valuable and regularly updated data” to detect, monitor and reduce the risk of natural disasters whilst monitoring the effects of climate change.
Andrew Griffith, Minister, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, UK said: “Earth observation will play an absolutely vital role in tackling global challenges like climate change and disaster relief, providing the data we need at speed, while supporting key UK industries like agriculture and energy.”
According to G4S and Allied Universal’s World Security Report – which documents the opinions of 1,775 CSOs or those in equivalent positions from 30 countries – climate change events are on the rise and are ‘the second most concerning hazard, with 38% saying they may be impacted in the next year.’