Challenges Ahead for Space And Major Disasters Charter

摘要

A 13-year-old group of nations providing Earth observation satellite imagery free of charge after natural disasters anywhere in the world is being forced to evolve with the imminent retirement of its most-utilized spacecraft and the privatization of many of its satellite sources.The International Charter on Space and Major Disasters, formed in 1999 by the French space agency, CNES, and the 20-na-tion European Space Agency (ESA), has grown to 14 member nations and agencies - Russia is about to become the 15th -plus 41 nations that have created Authorized Users of the charter and can activate it on their own.