Europe Studying Role Space Should Play in Homeland Security

摘要

A consortium of European companies including space-hardware builders, satellite ground-network operators and aerospace-research institutes have been given 15 months to make the case that Europe's evolving homeland-security program should include a substantial space element. The industry consortium, led by EADS Astrium SAS of France, is one of seven industrial groupings that has won contracts with the Commission of the European Union (EU), which is preparing what some officials hope ultimately will blossom into an effort with financing equivalent to several hundred million dollars annually. The Astro+ project (Advanced Space Technologies to Support Security Operations) will attempt to present to the EU Commission a detailed assessment of how spacebased assets in telecommunications, navigation and positioning and Earth observation could be used to aid EU security-related efforts inside and outside Europe.