NEWS

On 12 May 2022, Rear Admiral (Italian Navy) Stefano Turchetto, Operation Commander of EUNAVFOR MED IRINI, visited SatCen with a delegation from his Operations Headquarters. This is the Rear Admiral’s first visit to SatCen since taking command on 1 October.

This first visit allowed for an update on the Centre’s wide spectrum of operational geospatial analysis services, as well as other space-related capabilities with a specific focus on the continuous support and collaboration with Operation IRINI. On this occasion, SatCen Director Sorin Ducaru discussed SatCen’s readiness to respond and adapt to different user needs, highlighting the growing level of EU ambition as reflected by the Strategic Compass and forthcoming Space Strategy for Security and Defence.

Mr Marcello Moretti, Operations Manager, provided a comprehensive overview of the Centre’s longstanding support to maritime operations such as Atalanta, Sophia and more specifically, Operation IRINI. Relevant examples were displayed in this context.  

Following an Operational overview that contextualized the Centre’s activities as well as collaboration with the Commission (through COPERNICUS SEA and FRONTEX), the visitors were invited to visit workstations and talk directly with the Centre’s image analysts.

The Centre’s culture of innovation and technological development was also addressed by Ms Alessandra Ussorio, Deputy Head of Copernicus Unit, and Alexis Letulier, Head of IT. Ms Ussorio, along with her team, discussed the implementation and functionalities of the GISMO GeoHub tool. Developed and managed by SatCen and co-funded by SatCen and EDA, the GeoHub tool allows for the safe and reliable sharing of geospatial information (GI) within a mission’s operational headquarters. This move towards digital solutions increases the value of the data and user interactivity with products, further bridging the gap between SatCen and its users.

In complementarity, Mr Letulier presented the applications and tools developed in house. SatCen’s portfolio leverages the latest technologies to achieve a double-fold objective, on one hand, to better train analysts (internal and external) and secondly, to support daily analysis, increasing efficiency and effectiveness.

The Commander expressed appreciation for the work done at the Centre, and further highlighted the mutual collaboration between the two entities, “On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the EU Satellite Centre, I’m honoured to present my thankful appreciation for the work done. On behalf of the European men and women working under my command, operating ashore and with the workers off the coast of Libya, Thank You! (...) SatCen has the capability of providing support in all kinds of operations related to IRINI.”