Greece announces €60m earth observation microsatellite constellation

The Greek Ministry of Digital Governance has announced that the country is going ahead with the development of a €60-million Earth observation microsatellite constellation. Once operational, the constellation will provide the country with optical, multispectral, and hyperspectral Earth observation data.

An initial call for information for what was then referred to as the National Programme for the Construction of Small Satellites was published in September 2021. The programme was announced as an element of the country’s national space strategy, with funding coming from Greece 2.0, which is the country’s national recovery and resilience plan. The call was developed in collaboration with the European Commission and the European Space Agency, with the agency also handling the publishing and management of the call.

On 24 January 2024, the Ministry of Digital Governance announced that this initial phase had been completed and that the project was ready to begin accepting proposals. According to this announcement, the constellation will have a total budget of €60 million. This project is, however, only one element of the country’s larger Microsatellite Programme, which has a total budget of €130 million.

Once operational, the data collected by the constellation of satellites will be utilized by a number of the country’s agencies, including the Ministries of Environment and Energy, Shipping, and Climate Crisis and Civil Protection. A particular focus of its operation will be monitoring the environment and the effects of climate change.

europeanspaceflight.com