Establishment of a Space Resilience Node for Austria to strengthen civil protection

GeoSphere Austria is working with the Earth Observation Data Centre (EODC) to develop a basis for decision-making regarding an Austrian Space Resilience Node (SRN).

As part of a study commissioned by the European Space Agency (ESA), research is being carried out into how satellite-based Earth observation, secure satellite communications and modern digital technologies can be utilised even more effectively in future for civil protection and crisis management in Austria.

The aim of the study is to assess the needs of Austrian emergency services and civil protection organisations, identify specific use cases and lay the foundations for a potential national infrastructure. In the event of a crisis, this infrastructure is intended to enable rapid access to reliable information, improve situational assessment and support well-informed decision-making – for example, in the event of floods, forest fires, landslides or damage to critical infrastructure.

The focus is on the requirements of future users. Federal states, emergency services and other relevant stakeholders are invited to contribute their experiences, challenges and needs in workshops and expert discussions. The study is already being supported by several federal states as well as organisations within the Austrian civil protection sector.

The study forms part of Element 2 of the ESA programme ‘European Resilience from Space – Earth Observation’ and aims to demonstrate how existing national and European data and infrastructures can be efficiently linked. This will lay the foundations for further expanding the practical benefits of space-based technologies for Austria’s security and resilience.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)