Serco Awarded New Contract By ESA To Lead The Destination Earth Core Service Platform
Serco, the international provider of services to governments, has been awarded a new contract by the European Space Agency (ESA) to lead the implementation of a key element of the European Commission’s flagship initiative Destination Earth (DestinE): the DestinE Core Service Platform (DESP).
The DestinE initiative aims to create a digital model of the Earth that will be used to monitor the effects of natural and human activity on our planet, anticipate extreme events and adapt policies to climate-related challenges. Serco will lead the consortium in charge of implementing the DestinE Core Service Platform (DESP): an open, flexible, and secure cloud-based computing system that will provide evidence-based decision-making tools, applications and services.
Along with its partners – Thales Alenia Space, CGI, Deimos, Exprivia, MEEO and Alia Space – Serco will setup and operate a digital platform enabling the development and exploitation of applications and services leveraging DestinE data. The data will mainly come from Copernicus satellite data and other sources provided by ESA, EUMETSAT and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).
The cloud infrastructure will rely on a strong partnership with OVHcloud, leader of European cloud services, offering scalable and secure solutions, while ensuring data sovereignty, European data privacy and security.
Commenting on the contract win, Guido Vingione, Business Development Director for space in Europe, said: “We are delighted to have been selected by ESA to develop and operate the Core Service Platform for the Destination Earth initiative. This new contract is a major milestone for Serco in Europe and only reinforce our company’s commitment to support the exploitation of the DestinE programme, delivering the highest standards of service and innovation. We look forward to working with ESA to make DESP a success”.
Serco is one of the leading space industry and services companies. With over 40 years’ experience in supporting the space sector, Serco has supported more than 50 customers’ space missions.
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About Serco Europe
Serco Europe, supports governments and international organizations in the delivery of public services. In Europe, Serco operates in four key sectors: space, defence, immigration and international organisations and employs over 4000 people in ten countries, including Austria, Belgium, France and French Guiana, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland. www.serco.com/eu
About Serco Group
Serco is a leading provider of public services. Our customers are governments or others operating in the public sector. We gain scale, expertise and diversification by operating internationally across five sectors and four geographies: Defence, Justice & Immigration, Transport, Health and Citizen Services, delivered in UK & Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. More information can be found at www.serco.com
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Ophelie Martin +32 483 01 75 51 Ophelie.martin@serco.com (Europe)
