The closing date for responses is 9th September 2020 (revised date).
On behalf of the UK Space Agency, CEOI is performing a refresh of the Earth Observation Mission Capability Review (EOMCR), which was last undertaken in early 2018. The objective is to update the list of UK-led EO mission or instrument concepts that have sufficient maturity to go forward should a flight opportunity arise.
The TRUTHS mission, which was submitted to the 2018 EOMCR Survey, has since been proposed by the UK and accepted by ESA as an Earthwatch mission. It is currently preparing to enter Phase A/B1 study in ESA.
Details of the 2018 EOMCR and the final report from that review are available at the bottom of this page.
The overall objective of the EOMCR is to build a list of potential EO missions or instruments that are near flight-ready. Such missions/instruments could for instance be under a national programme, a bilateral or international mission, or through an ESA or other institutional programme. The end users could be commercial, public policy or academic. This reflects the UK government’s continued commitment to the UK space sector, and recognition of the role it will play after 1st January 2021, and additionally as an element of our economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. With this in mind, it is more important than ever to know what UK-led missions could be undertaken on both short and longer timescales.
If you would like to propose a new space-based Earth observation mission concept which would align well with the national space strategy, please complete and return the questionnaire form (see link below). This form contains a series of questions designed to capture an overview of each mission concept, its feasibility, approximate cost band, current development status, and its strength in relation to 5 defined criteria.
The initial step will be for UKSA supported by CEOI to assemble an updated list of potential missions, based on the mission information and self-assessments (provided by the mission proposal team) of science, technology and mission readiness. A later stage which we expect to carry out will include a peer review process by an EOMCR Panel (to be appointed) to evaluate the submissions. Concepts scoring highly in such an assessment may be asked to provide additional information. Should a funding opportunity arise, more mature missions may then go forward to a more detailed review process.
The CEOI Leadership Team will support the UK Space Agency in collating the information received through the questionnaires. This information will also be made available to the EOMCR Panel. All information will be held in confidence by the UK Space Agency, CEOI and the Panel in line with the UK Space Agency confidentiality rules.
Further information on this Capability Review and the questionnaire is contained in the Guidelines document (link below).
Completed questionnaires should be sent to UK Space Agency EO Team (UKSAEOT@ukspaceagency.gov.uk).
The closing date for responses is 9th September 2020 (revised date).
Documents:
Future EO Mission Questionnaire Guidelines (2020)
Future EO Mission Questionnaire (2020)
The 2018 EO Mission Capability Review
In spring 2018, the UK Space Agency and its EO Advisory Committee initiated a UK Earth Observation Missions Capability (EOMCR) Review.
The 2018 EOMCR report is available here (published August 2019).
The scope of the EOMCR is to build a list of potential EO missions or instruments that are near flight-ready. Such missions/instruments could for instance be under a national programme, a bilateral mission or through an ESA or other institutional programme. The end users could be commercial, public policy or academic.
The objective is to develop a catalogue of EO mission and instrument concepts to allow opportunistic or strategic support for missions. However there was no dedicated funding for national EO missions at the time of the review.
The activities included completion of a questionnaire followed by a CEOI Challenge Workshop – Future EO Missions and Instruments
Basic information was provided by members of the UK EO community about EO mission or instrument concepts and their strength in relation to 5 defined criteria. These concepts were assessed by a Panel of independent experts and the results presented to the meeting of the EO Advisory Committee in May 2018.
The CEOI Leadership Team supported the UK Space Agency in collating the information and preparing documents for the Panel.
Documents: