Earth Observation Satellite Systems report provides business critical insights into the progression of global EO satellite manufacturing and launch market.

🚀 Applications are now OPEN for the ESA EO Excellence Award 2027! ESA is inviting outstanding early-career individuals in the field of Earth Observation to showcase their achievements, from scientifi...

Farmers and policymakers could get an early warning of worsening agricultural drought conditions with a new forecasting portal developed by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. The platform, KrishiDrought.in, provides weekly agricultural drought forecasts across India, offering up to four weeks of advance warning. The publicly accessible portal tracks evolving soil moisture conditions at a spatial resolution of approximately 9 km, with forecasts made available at the district level. It aims to help farmers, government agencies and other stakeholders prepare for dry spells, make informed agricultural decisions and reduce potential crop losses. The platform was formally launched on October 28, 2026, during the Golden Jubilee celebrations of IIT Bombay's Centre of Studies in Resources Engineering (CSRE). Developed by the Ecohydrology research group led by Professor Karthikeyan Lanka at CSRE and the Centre for Climate Studies, the system combines satellite observations, hydroclimatic datasets, dynamical forecasts and advanced deep-learning models. By bringing together these different sources of information, the portal seeks to provide a picture of how soil moisture conditions are changing and where agricultural drought may intensify in the coming weeks. HOW DOES KRISHIDROUGHT WORK? Unlike drought assessments that primarily describe conditions after they have developed, KrishiDrought is...

Google Deepmind and the World Resources Institute have developed ForTy, an AI map that distinguishes primary forests, timber plantations, and tree crop farms worldwide. Satellite maps usually show whether trees grow in a given area without identifying the forest or crop type. ForTy, short for Forest Typology, goes further by assigning the world's land area in 2020 to 6 classes at 10-meter resolution. These cover primary forest, naturally regenerating forest, planted forest, plantation forest, tree crops such as oil palm, rubber, or cocoa, and other land. The authors say ForTy is the first global map of its kind. Earlier datasets, including one from the European Commission, cover only parts of the world. EU deforestation rules need a reliable 2020 reference point The main driver behind the project is the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR), which prohibits goods linked to forests cleared or degraded after December 31, 2020, including goods produced after primary forest was converted to a plantation. Oil palm and cocoa farms count as agricultural land, so companies assessing supply chain risks need to know how a site was used in 2020. ForTy gives them that 2020 reference point and could also feed into other initiatives that depend...

Google Deepmind and the World Resources Institute have developed ForTy, an AI map that distinguishes primary forests, timber plantations, and tree crop farms worldwide. Satellite maps usually show whether trees grow in a given area without identifying the forest or crop type. ForTy, short for Forest Typology, goes further by assigning the world's land area in 2020 to 6 classes at 10-meter resolution. These cover primary forest, naturally regenerating forest, planted forest, plantation forest, tree crops such as oil palm, rubber, or cocoa, and other land. The authors say ForTy is the first global map of its kind. Earlier datasets, including one from the European Commission, cover only parts of the world. EU deforestation rules need a reliable 2020 reference point The main driver behind the project is the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR), which prohibits goods linked to forests cleared or degraded after December 31, 2020, including goods produced after primary forest was converted to a plantation. Oil palm and cocoa farms count as agricultural land, so companies assessing supply chain risks need to know how a site was used in 2020. ForTy gives them that 2020 reference point and could also feed into other initiatives that depend...

Satellite measurements have provided some of the strongest evidence yet that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a crucial ocean current system that transports warm water from the Gulf of Mexico to the North Atlantic, is weakening. According to research published in New Scientist, the AMOC has slowed by 14 percent over a 30-year period, based on analysis of heat flux from the ocean to the atmosphere. The study, led by Richard Allan of the University of Reading, UK, used satellite data to measure how much heat the North Atlantic is releasing into the atmosphere, finding an 18 percent decrease in heat flux over 40 years. This decline in heat release correlates with the AMOC's reduced ability to transport warm water northward, which helps maintain Europe's relatively mild climate. The researchers compared satellite data from the first decade with subsequent decades to establish the 14 percent decline in circulation strength. While ocean buoys have measured a 10 percent decline in AMOC strength since 2004, the satellite data provides a more comprehensive view of long-term trends. Climate models suggest that melting Greenland ice sheets, which add fresh water to the North Atlantic, could be diluting the salty water necessary for the AMOC's sinking process, thereby weakening the circulation. Some studies predict the AMOC could collapse as early as 2060, leading to colder winters in Europe, stronger storms, and widespread drought. The UK has invested £81 million in research to develop an early warning system for AMOC collapse by 2030, though this study is not part of that initiative. Scientists like Stefan Rahmstorf of the University of Potsdam emphasize that multiple lines of evidence, including satellite data, sea-surface temperature measurements, and atmospheric reanalyses, all point to a slowing AMOC. The combination of these different methods strengthens the case that the AMOC is approaching a tipping point, though more research is needed to confirm the trend. The study, currently undergoing peer review, represents a significant advancement in monitoring ocean currents through satellite technology, offering potential for future early warning systems.

Newswise — Terrestrial vegetation absorbs roughly 120–149 petagrams of carbon annually through photosynthesis, offsetting about one-third of global fossil-fuel emissions. Precipitation is a primary driver of vegetation growth and productivity, yet how ecosystems respond to rainfall variability—termed vegetation sensitivity to precipitation (Sppt)—remains poorly understood under the growing frequency of compound disturbances. While droughts and wildfires are known to independently affect carbon and water cycles, their combined impacts on Sppt have not been systematically quantified at the global scale. Based on these challenges, or due to these unresolved interactions, there is a critical need to conduct in-depth research on how compound drought–fire events alter the functional dependence of ecosystems on precipitation and carbon–water coupling. On August 3, 2026, researchers from Tongji University published (DOI: 10.34133/remotesensing.1060) a study in the Journal of Remote Sensing examining how compound drought–fire events affect vegetation sensitivity to precipitation. Using global satellite observations from 2001 to 2022, the team tackled a pressing real-world challenge: as climate change intensifies both droughts and wildfires, ecosystems face simultaneous stressors whose combined effects on carbon uptake and water use remain largely unknown. This research provides the first disturbance-oriented global assessment of how these compound events reshape the fundamental relationship between vegetation...

From microscopic water organisms to entire forest landscapes, researchers at TUM are harnessing cutting-edge technologies to investigate how biodiversity is affected by climate change — and how ecosys...

How many Starmind AI satellites are in orbit, every launch, the next launch date and SpaceX

With rising temperatures, the buttressing ice shelves at the edges the Antarctic ice sheet are melting and calving off at record rates, leaving behind sheer cliffs of solid ice. The stability of these exposed ice cliffs could influence how Antarctica further breaks apart and contributes to sea level rise around the world. Scientists have assumed that an ice cliff’s stability depends on its height: Ice cliffs that are taller than 100 meters — about the height of the Statue of Liberty — should collapse under their own weight. And once a cliff sloughs off, it should expose even taller, inland cliffs that collapse in turn. At least, that’s been the idea. But researchers at MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have found that the stability of an ice cliff depends on more than its height. And even when a cliff topples, it doesn’t necessarily set off a runaway collapse. In a study appearing today in Science, the team presents an analysis of over 15,000 ice cliffs in Antarctica that were monitored by satellites over a four-year period. They observed how the ice cliffs and the larger ice sheet evolved over time, and found that those ice cliffs that...

“Today, it is about confirming a common responsibility: to ensure that the expanding availability of satellite data across Africa is translated into practical services that help countries foresee risks, protect hard-won development gains and support those most exposed to climate shocks”, highlighted Karsten Mecklenburg, EU Ambassador to the Kingdom of Eswatini at his opening remarks. “There is a strong continuity between technical cooperation and political commitment: from satellite data access to operational services, institutional strengthening and protection of vulnerable communities”. Quotes testimonies + watch what users see as concrete examples of impact here Follow the event on Instagram | Facebook | X | WhatsApp This meeting comes at a critical time. Across Africa, climate-related hazards are becoming more frequent and more severe. Droughts, floods, cyclones and heatwaves are already affecting livelihoods, food systems, water resources and public finances. The prospect of El Niño-related impacts enhances the need for preparedness, anticipatory action and coordinated responses at continental, regional and national levels. In this context, the event produced the Manzini Declaration that provides significant political momentum for accelerating the use of satellite data and strengthening early warning systems across Africa, while reinforcing African Union’s frameworks and call to action. It underlines that...

Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life Below Water) is the least funded of the 17 SDGs. Meeting it requires an estimated US$175 billion in annual investment, yet only around US$25 billion is currently invested each year in the sustainable ocean economy. While this gap reflects familiar constraints of sovereign credit risk, limited investor awareness, and the scale of capital required, it also reflects a narrower and more tractable problem: financial illegibility in the ocean economy. Ocean and coastal outcomes such as coastline change, reef condition, or a vessel’s presence inside a marine protected area (MPA) have historically been costly or infrequent to measure, or difficult to verify independently at the resolution required by lenders and insurers. Unlike many terrestrial assets, ocean activities have often lacked reliable and scalable measurement systems capable of supporting financial claims. This can raise the cost of capital and hinder financing for projects unable to demonstrate their outcomes. By reducing reliance on costly field-based assessments, satellite-enabled monitoring can lower monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) costs and make ocean outcomes more actionable for financial and regulatory actors. Satellites address this constraint by providing frequent, large-scale, and increasingly independent observations of ocean conditions and activity. By reducing reliance on...

ASTANA, Sept 25 (Bernama-Qazinform) — Earth is slowly changing its shape, with the planet becoming less flattened at the poles while its gravity field is becoming more flattened at the equator, according to a new study based on global satellite positioning data, Qazinform News Agency reported. Earth is not a perfect sphere. It is slightly flattened at the poles and wider around the equator. The new research shows that this shape is not fixed and is changing as ice melts and water and other surface masses are redistributed around the planet. Researchers analysed vertical movements of the Earth’s surface using […]

A big new community paper has just landed: the IMBIE paper is a big effort to assess the long term health of the ice sheets. What did we find and what does it mean?

As a result of a Ukrainian strike on September 4, six fuel tanks were destroyed at an oil depot near Sochi Airport. This is evidenced by satellite data cited by the Russian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. As reported by the online media outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. At the facility, located near the airport and linked to the company “Lukoil,” an estimated five to six containers holding petroleum products burned down. Some of the tanks were covered with anti-drone nets. Fire at an oil depot in Sochi On September 4, Russian authorities confirmed a drone attack on Sochi and a fire at the oil depot. Monitoring channels linked the blaze to a Lukoil facility. The Ukrainian side did not comment on the attack. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian strikes have regularly targeted military, industrial, and fuel facilities on Russian territory, as well as in the temporarily occupied regions of Ukraine. The Defense Forces of Ukraine are systematically carrying out measures aimed at reducing the combat potential of the Russian occupation forces and compelling Russia to end its armed aggression against Ukraine. – General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine This is how the General...

Google DeepMind's WeatherNext 3 is breaking the mold of traditional weather forecasting by pulling live satellite data to generate predictions every single hour. That is a dramatic leap from the six-hour update cycles that most AI models still depend on. The technology is already live in Google Search, Maps, and Gemini, and it could reshape how energy grids manage wind and solar power in real time. https://qz.com/google-deepmind-weathernext-3-ai-weather-forecast-090326

Newswise — The Kakhovka Dam in southern Ukraine was destroyed on June 6, 2023. The event unleashed a catastrophic flood that forced thousands of residents to evacuate their communities as water levels rose 10 feet above normal. For most floods caused by dam or reservoir breaks, known as outburst floods, current data is nearly impossible to find. By the time researchers can safely reach the site, only the aftermath remains. But in the case of Kakhovka, a newly launched NASA satellite happened to be collecting measurements over the region, providing a unique view of the flood in real time. Using those observations, Georgia Tech researchers tested how well existing outburst flood models reproduced the actual event. The results revealed a discrepancy: The models consistently underestimated flood conditions. Even improved models struggled to accurately capture both the height and timing of floodwaters. The findings suggest that commonly used flood simulations may not fully capture the dynamics of large outburst floods. Models need improvement to be effective for hazard assessment and emergency planning. Putting Models to the Test Flood models are essential for estimating how deadly and costly outburst floods can be. “Models allow us to understand which communities could be affected...

Satellite images provide more accurate tidal data: A new method improves tide level forecasts, coastal protection, and navigation—even without tide gauge.