EO-Alert: A Novel Satellite Architecture for the Next Generation of Earth Observation Satellites Supporting Rapid Alerts

Abstract

The EO-ALERT project proposes the definition and development of the next-generation Earth Observation (EO) data processing chain, based on a novel flight segment architecture that moves opti-mised key EO data processing elements from the ground segment to on-board the satellite, with the aim of delivering EO products to the end user with very low latency. EO-ALERT achieves, globally, latencies below five minutes for EO products delivery,andbelow 1 minute in some scenarios.The proposed archi-tecture combinesinnovations in the on-board elements of the data chain and the communications, namely:on-board reconfigurable data handling, on-board image generation and processing for the generation of alerts (EO products) using Artificial Intelligence (AI), on-boardAI-baseddata compression and encryp-tion, high-speed on-board avionics, and reconfigurable high data rate communication links to ground,including a separate chain for alerts with minimum latency and global coverage. Thispaper presents the proposed architecture, its performance and hardware, considering two different user scenarios:ship detec-tion and extreme weather nowcasting.The results show that, when implemented using COTS components and available communication links, the proposed architecture can deliver alerts to ground with latency belowfive minutes, for both SAR and Optical missions, demonstrating the viability of the EO-ALERT concept.