Awards celebrating outstanding achievement in the space industry in the area of Earth Observation were presented today to four companies at the prestigious World Satellite Business Week (WSBW) held this week by Euroconsult, the leading space consulting and market intelligence firm.
A renowned industry landmark, the Annual Awards for Excellence in Earth Observation recognize the exceptional commercial and innovative accomplishments of businesses in the space sector. Finalists are judged by a panel of experts through a rigorous assessment of their performance in both qualitative and quantitative criteria, including innovation, strategic decisions, market impact, financial and commercial indicators.
WSBW offers an exceptional stage to distinguish 2022’s best performers and set a new standard for excellence for over 1,200 executive-level industry leaders in attendance. Marking its 25th anniversary as the must-attend forum for the global satellite industry, the WSBW convenes the industry’s top decision makers to negotiate the deals that will shape the year to come from the Westin Hotel in the heart of Paris, France.
This year’s winners for the Excellence in Earth Observation Awards are:
Airbus for the Satellite Information Business Award
The aerospace giant has proven its mastery of Earth Observation with a varied range of capabilities and applications featuring Pléiades Neo, Pléiades, SPOT, DMC Constellation and Vision-1 optical satellites as well as the Radar Constellation offering a wealth of accurate data.
François Lombard, Head of Intelligence Business, Airbus Defence and Space.
“We are honoured to receive this award which reflects Airbus’ commitment to pioneering the best Earth Observation solutions.
Being at the forefront of such industry is truly inspiring and an enormous range of possibilities is now ahead of us thanks to Pléiades Neo!” François Lombard, Head of Intelligence Business, Airbus Defence and Space.
Blacksky for the Pioneer Space business
Blacksky’s rapid AI-driven satellite data analytics has found strong commercial success, counting a partnership with Airbus, contract with NASA and interest from the US air force for their technological integration.
Brian E. O’Toole, BlackSky CEO: "The entire BlackSky team is honored to receive the 2022 Pioneer in Space Business Award from Euroconsult, it’s been an incredible year of growth and innovation for our business and the customers and partners we serve We have built BlackSky with the aspiration of being the world’s leader in real-time global intelligence. In the last year, we’ve doubled the capacity of our constellation including three back-to-back launches in less than 30 days that enabled hourly monitoring of most locations around the globe. We also won the largest contract in the company’s history, worth over $1 billion dollars over the next 10 years. BlackSky has never been more focused than now on continuing to be pioneers and providing our customers and partners on-demand, real-time dynamic monitoring of the most important and strategic economic assets in the world.”
Rocket Lab for the New Space Business Award
Since its founding in 2006, Rocket lab has grown into an end-to-end space company with its own spacecraft and launchers making steps towards reusability and contracts with NASA, Unseenlabs, DARPA, Spire and more.
Richard French- Director, Business Development and Strategy, Space Systems: "It's a pleasure and a privilege to be honored with this award. Over the past year we've cemented our position a leading launch provider, with our Electron rocket one of the most frequently-flown rockets in the world, and our new medium-lift Neutron rocket set to disrupt the industry again as a fully reusable carbon composite launch vehicle. Beyond launch we've gone from strength to strength in our space systems business, with a major highlight of the year coming from the successful launch and delivery of CAPSTONE to the Moon for NASA on Electron and our lunar upper stage, Photon. Future missions with Rocket Lab to Earth orbit and interplanetary destinations to Mars and Venus are part of an exciting future for our business as we continue to open up access to space to improve life on Earth through our work."
EPFL for Space Sustainability Rating initiative for the Sustainable Development & Business Award
Having already received financial support from the Swiss Space Office, the Space Sustainability Rating initiative wac created to encourage the design and implementation of sustainable space missions as an answer to the increasingly urgent challenge of space debris and is quickly gaining traction.
Mrs. Emmanuelle David, Executive Director eSpace - EPFL Space Center: “We are proud to receive Euroconsult’s Sustainable Development & Business Award and grateful for the recognition of the collective effort behind the Space Sustainability Rating. As concerns about the long-term use of the space environment and the challenges due to space debris are intensifying, sustainable and responsible behaviour must become a norm in outer space, and we hope space actors across the globe will join us in developing best space sustainability practices.”
The second winner of the Finspace competition is Miratlas, for its work on sensors and software aimed at characterizing atmospheric conditions impacting optical communications from space to the ground. Miratlas provides local, real-time data as a service on cloud cover, turbulence and absorption, enabling the optimisation of optical ground stations and supporting infrastructure for ground segment and satellite operators.
Jean-Edouard Communal, CEO and co-founder of Miratlas: “Miratlas is very honored by this award and wants to thank the jury of space experts and Euroconsult for choosing us. 2022 is a turning-point year, including our lastest fundraising and this recognition. Miratlas focuses on atmospheric characterization and enables laser communication between earth and space, quantum key distribution, space situational awareness, climate change monitoring and much more. Our solution allows new space players considerable savings during the deployment and operations of the laser and quantum communication infrastructures. We are enabling the new chapter of laser satellites communication (Fibre in the Sky), extending the high-capacity terrestrial networks anywhere in the world.”
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