NEWS

On 15 February 2021, H.E. Ambassador Gregor W. Koessler, Director Political Affairs Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs of Austria, visited SatCen together with H.E. Christian Ebner, Ambassador of Austria in Spain.

 

The diplomatic delegation was welcomed by SatCen Heads of key divisions and was briefed on the Centre’s development, achievements and road ahead.

 

SatCen expert staff presented the Centre’s geospatial analysis support to the European External Action Service, to EU Missions and Operations, to the Member States as well as to the United Nations (UN) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Within this context, the diplomatic delegation was introduced to the Centre’s use of innovative technologies, specifically the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for both support to operations, as well as boundary monitoring.

 

Additionally, SatCen’s role in the EU Copernicus Programme was presented, with a focus on the important industrial contribution (R&I and evolution) provided by the programme to Member States.

 

The briefings highlighted the value of cooperation and synergies between users and partners, SatCen’s agility and flexibility as a core competence as well as the value of SatCen as a tool that not only supports the European Union’s strategic autonomy but also directly supports Member States, acting as the only geospatial collection & analysis entity at the EU level.

H.E. Ambassador Gregor W. Koessler expressed words of appreciation stating, “I cherish the depth and flexibility of your approach to future challenges of our common Europe in a changing world”.

The visit concluded with a brief tour of the Centre’s Operations division and the SST room, where the diplomatic delegation could further assess the work done by the Centre as well as better to understand the role of SatCen as “Front Desk” service provider within the EU Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) Support Framework.