Serco awarded contract to support ESA satellite ops in Germany
Serco Germany has been awarded a new contract by the European Space Agency to provide support services for the European Space Operation Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany.
Image courtesy Serco
The five-year contract will start with a six-month phase-in followed by 4.5 years of full service provision, which will be funded by the European Commission following the successful implementation of the phase in and confirmation of the European Commission budget availability.
Under the contract, Serco will be responsible for supporting space operations of the Copernicus satellite family, the world’s largest and most ambitious Earth observation programme. These services will include routine operations of the Sentinel satellites and supporting launch and early operations. This will enable the entire European Earth Observation community to receive vital information from the Sentinel satellites.
For the delivery of the service, Serco will lead a consortium consisting of Telespazio Germany, Elecnor Deimos Spain, CS Communications and Systems Germany, together putting in place a team of engineers and technicians.
This new contract is an example of the long-standing collaboration between Serco and the European Space Agency and widens the scope of services provided by the company within the Copernicus programme. Serco is also involved in the collection, management and dissemination of Copernicus data as part of other services provided to the European Space Agency.
Serco has been providing services to the European Space Agency for over 40 years, supporting many of their significant Interplanetary, Earth Observation and Astronomical space missions. Serco Europe is delivering services to ESOC in Germany, to the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands, the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Spain and the European Space Research Institute (ESRIN) in Italy.
Nathalie Rooth, Managing Director of Serco in Germany, said: “We look forward to starting to deliver these key services to ESOC. We are proud to have been selected as the European Space Agency’s trusted partner in supporting the Copernicus satellites’ operations. This new contract marks a major step forward for Serco’s German business in terms of our ability to propose, design and operate complex service solutions and I am confident that our long-standing experience and proven expertise will ensure successful delivery of these services for ESOC.”