A €1.8 million contract has been given to the Finnish hyperspectral satellite and artificial intelligence (AI) insights company Kuva Space to take part in the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Civil Security from Space (CSS) program. The purpose of the contract is to provide advanced hyperspectral situational awareness information for monitoring and mitigating civil security and crisis events.
Kuva Space is conducting a three-year research and development program aimed at improving border surveillance by identifying and re-identifying illicit activities along the Baltic Sea region between Finland, Estonia, and Sweden. As part of this program, Kuva Space will test and develop on-board hyperspectral data processing, Sat-to-Sat, and Sat-to-IoT mobile communication. The results will be demonstrated through a field study conducted in collaboration with the Finnish authorities.
The goal of the Civil Security from Space program is to encourage the employment of spaceborne solutions to support emergency situations, law enforcement, safety, and humanitarian responses in a timely and effective manner, for the benefit of all parties involved.
There is a significant impact on the environment, human rights, and security when we fail to promptly provide first responders with information on emergency incidents. As part of the CSS program, we’re excited to work together to jointly develop a solid solution to evaluate the end-to-end delivery of insights to the user, says Jarkko Antila, CEO of Kuva Space.
Civil security faces challenges in resource limitations, data access, and big data handling, especially during emergencies. In response, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Portugal, and Switzerland have funded SMART-CONNECT, led by Geoville. The consortium aims to enhance crisis communication for timely information exchange during emergencies.
“A variety of new and improved applications and services, especially in the field of public security, are made possible by hyperspectral data. Being an important part of the Smart-Connect consortium is particularly exciting for Kuva Space, as the company is one of the top European developers of hyperspectral equipment. According to Gordon Campbell, Head of Enterprise at ESA’s Earth Observation Programmes Directorate, “the multi-platform constellation ensures fast revisit, along with the potential for extended persistence and fast tipping – or cueing – that allows for timely and relevant information to reach the hands of first responders when it is needed.”
Kuva Space aims to create the largest hyperspectral satellite network in the world as well as an automated AI-driven insights-as-a-service model. In 2024, Kuva Space plans to launch two hyperspectral satellites and start offering its services after three successful satellite flights. Hyperfield-1, the first, is expected to deploy in July 2024. This will be the first phase of Kuva Space’s constellation plan, which calls for the deployment of up to 100 satellites by 2030 in order to offer continuous monitoring.
A €5 million commercial contract to be the only supplier of hyperspectral data services for the EU Copernicus program was given to Kuva Space in 2023. The company also won the NATO Innovation Challenge with its AI-driven analytics for improved Arctic surveillance capabilities.
