The European Space Agency is about much more than human spaceflight and exploration. It’s also an organisation that funds a multitude of businesses and projects looking to use space and satellite technology to enhance a particular field.

Many of these projects are ones that utilise drone technology to help tackle certain issues. Drones can be useful in a variety of processes, ranging from surveillance to crop management to rescue missions!

We’ve compiled a short list below of projects the ESA is currently funding, which aim towards bringing significant strides to their respective target areas.

These projects showcase how drones can be used alongside space technology:

Audros

Audros focuses on using UAV technology to assist in identifying CBRNE threats. The aim is to introduce drones into areas such as the military, border control and the fire brigade to identify potential or existing threats.

These drones would be autonomous and remotely feed the information back to the people who need to be informed through Satellite technology, resulting in quick and reliable actions.

DroSecMa

DroSecMa has an interesting approach to drone technology.

Their project actually involves mitigating the risks involved with the increasingly heavy use of drones in recent!

In doing so, they aim to fine-tune their use towards enhanced surveillance and inspection. Believing their capabilities to far extend into this field, DroSecMa feels drone technology can help us in certain situations where human interaction might otherwise prove harmful.

Bioscope

Monitoring crops and overall field management is extremely important to farmers. Drone technology can be implemented to help make this process more efficient and maximise the best possible output.

Bioscope wants to utilise drones by having them remotely monitor crops and feed high resolution images back to the farmers, detailing each crop’s condition at specific times during the growing season.

This will help both farmers and farm advisors. This form of remote sensing will not only make field management more efficient, but it’ll also help agricultural users in their decision making towards different processes.

SIS-REM

SIS-REM focuses on the improvement of Search & Rescue (S&R) operations, by tightening the security and safety of each S&R mission so that overall more lives are saved (including those going out on the missions).

Utilising drones can work in two ways; entertainment and mountain rescue support.

Instead of people risking their own livelihoods to get iconic photo moments, for example, a drone will be deployed. Controlled through a mobile app, the drone will go into hard-to-reach areas and take pictures and videos.

When it comes to emergencies, drones can be controlled through GINA software and used to monitor the mountain (and any particular areas deemed critical when searching for someone). The drones will then feed information back to the rescue patrol, using pictures and video streams to help speed up the process and not waste critical time.