We picked September as a sustainability month. And to show how the space industry can positively affect our world, we will show how ESA’s projects help each of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs). In this post, we are going to talk about goals 9 to 12.  

9 - Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure   

This resolution goal is to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation.   

ESA supports projects using global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) and telecom satellites. Some of these projects’ goals are to provide everyone access to broadband; allow remote banking in difficult access locations with no internet connection. Galileo based solutions are also used for transport and infrastructure, such as tracking trains. ESA protects our infrastructure from space weather. And it also supports technology transfer via business incubation.  

European telecoms satellites using high-frequency Ka-band communications make broadband Internet affordable what is particularly important in areas where the terrestrial Internet is not accessible, connecting these regions digitally with the world. To be able to compete with terrestrial service, satellite broadband needs to be commercially possible and transparent. ESA supports the Lift-Off project under the ARTES Program. The company OpenSky, together with a team at the University of Rome, developed market research to set up consumer profiles targeting business and private markets. As unmetered service wasn’t economically possible due to satellite bandwidth costs and the need to share the signal processing among customers, it was necessary to define acceptable usage parameters to manage consumer expectations, offering inexpensive and flexible service.  

As previously explained, technology transfer is when a tech, expertise, know-how, or facilities are used for a different purpose from the original. ESA supports the use of technology, service, and application developed for the space sector in other areas. The transfer process considers the needs of non-space applications and finds space industry resources suitable for those needs. ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme Office (TTPO) makes available technologies, expertise, patents, systems, and services from ESA’s space programs to entrepreneurs, start-ups, smaller companies, and businesses.

ESA works to protect Earth from space weather, such as a strong solar flare. This event is associated with strong mass ejections and solar radiation storms. In 2015, a satellite detected that the particles streaming out the solar wind was speeding up. When the shockwave from the Sun passed Earth, a recorded magnetic impulse triggered a geomagnetic storm that generated an Aurora seen in parts of Scandinavia and Wales.   

Different sectors are potentially affected by space weather, which also affects the economy. The energy sector is a significant customer of space weather services developed under ESA’s Space Situational Awareness program’s support. Space weather can damage and disrupt power distribution networks, cause radio communications degradation, and increase pipeline corrosion. The magnetic field can vary considerably on an average day and even more on a geomagnetic storm. Therefore, geomagnetic data is critical for the oil industry. A ground electric field’s appearance, a consequence of space weather, can promote currents flowing in long conducting structures such as power lines and long pipelines, causing a power network collapse, such as the one that happened in Hydro-Québec in March 1989.   

ESA’s ARTES 20 program co-fund the 3InSat (train Integrated Safety Satellite System), as the name says the goal was to incorporate satellite communication services in railway signaling systems. The project offers satellite-based services compatible with the European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS). It uses commercial 3G/4G cellular and satellite services combined with GNSS-based location services, making costly telecom networks unnecessary and transport safer. The project faced the challenge of using satellite navigation and communications for ERTMS and following stringent safety requirements for railway signaling systems. It was a marketing opportunity for ERTMS, as its use increased in European rail lines, China, and New Zealand. 

Europe has its own global navigation satellite system called Galileo, which provides a worldwide Search and Rescue (SAR) function, based on the operational Cospas-Sarsat system. Satellites equipped with a transponder transfer the distress signals from the user devices to regional rescue coordination centers. The system will inform the user that his situation has been detected and that help is on the way.   

 Satellites are also making it possible to transfer money between remote locations in sub-Saharan African countries that are otherwise unconnected to the outside world.   

10 - Reduced Inequalities  

This resolution is to reduce inequality within and among countries.  

As we saw in the other SDGs, ESA supports developing countries, supplying applications and services, providing energy, clean water, food, education, and others.  

11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities  

This resolution aims to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.

ESA supports projects related to air quality, transport systems, cultural heritage, urban areas, and has a vital role in the international space station (ISS) and the Concordia Antarctic research station.  

Satellite images and technologies support world natural and cultural heritage, bringing benefits to conservation and detecting risks. These places with cultural and natural diversity are vital sources of life and inspiration. However, excess of tourists, natural catastrophes, atmospheric contamination, acid rain, and global warming are threats to these areas. ESA supported the EC- sponsored project by EPOCH and UNESCO, offering a training course to World Heritage site managers to familiarize them with space tech, photogrammetry, and how to use them to monitor World Heritage sites.  

The Earth Observation Envelope Programme (EOEP) promoted a conference on Mapping Urban Areas from Space (MUAS). Scientists and data users could share their research and application development that used satellite data.  

ESA also supported projects to integrate transportation applications, such as the project from 21Net, which offered Wi-Fi access with broadband and intranet for trains. It provided business passengers the opportunity to connect with their work. And it opened opportunities for offering entertainment as an onboard service.  

ESA’s environmental monitoring satellite Envisat has an onboard Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY), which records the spectrum of sunlight shining through the atmosphere, what is useful to find the spectra absorption of trace gases in the air. SCIAMACHY generates a global air pollution map, specifically of nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The map shows how human activities impact air quality. The data can be used for chemical weather and air quality prediction, and qualify the sources of NO2, a human-made gas. Extreme exposure to it can cause lung and respiratory problems. It also causes the production of ozone in the lowest part of the atmosphere (troposphere).   

Data from Copernicus Sentinel satellites is also used to monitoring air quality. As air pollution is connected to millions of deaths worldwide, tracking the world’s air quality is vital.  Copernicus initiative is the first operational environmental observation system worldwide, and its data is freely available, including the atmosphere’s composition data from Sentinel-5, useful for monitoring and forecasting global air quality. Sentinel-5 measures trace gases, such as ozone, sulfur dioxide, methane, and carbon monoxide, as well as aerosols that affect air quality and climate. The data help monitor and differentiate between natural and human emissions and provide insights into the human impact on air quality, ozone, and climate, and improves air-quality predictions.   

12 - Responsible consumption and production  

This resolution envisions to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.  

ESA supports recycling and closed-loop system projects, such as the ISS and the already mentioned MELiSSA ecological system.   

As said before, ESA also supports the Concordia, antarctic research station. Antarctica is the perfect place for studying spaceflight’s consequences and the human psychological and physiological effects of extreme cold, isolation, and darkness due to its harsh conditions. And that is not all. Meteorology and glaciology studies supply data on ice composition and climate change.  

In the next post, we are going to talk about all the missing goals.  Here are part one and part two, if you missed it.

Follow us on Linkedin, Twitter, or Facebook to get our updates.

This article was written by Juliane Verissímo - Marketing Department of VisionSpace