ESA Programme Board of Earth Observation meeting in Saariselkä

Lapland showed its best points when the ESA Programme Board of Earth Observation (ESA PB-EO) meeting was held in Saariselkä from 4 to 5 February 2025.

Representatives from the Space Agency and 23 Member States were present. In connection with the meeting, Finland's 30-year membership of ESA was celebrated as well as the joint investment of ESA and the Finnish Meteorological Institute in the Arctic Space Centre of Sodankylä.

The ESA PB-EO is chaired by Professor Jarkko Koskinen from the National Land Survey of Finland. During the Presidency, he may bring one meeting to his home country. This allowed us to present the specificities of the Arctic to European space professionals. The bright sun, clean snow and tough 29-degree frost certainly gave an unoutgoing recollection of the conditions on the northern edge of Europe.
 

The members of ESA's Programme Board of Earth Observation were refreshed during the meeting break in severe frost. (Photo: Juha Kauppinen)
 

At the end of the two meeting days, the Finnish Meteorological Institute also arranged a visit to the Sodankylä Arctic Space Centre, where a joint investment by ESA and the Finnish Meteorological Institute was announced in the Arctic Satellite Calibration and Validation Centre.

ESA PB-EO coordinates the activities of the Space Agency's Earth Observation Programme and makes recommendations on the content of the programme to the ESA Council. The Earth Observation Programme is led by the Italian Simonetta Cheli.
 

More information:   

ESA Comitology 
Professor Jarkko Koskinen
Arctic Space Centre

- - - - - 

ESA: ESA and Finland pave the way towards a supersite for Earth observation  
Aalto University News 20.1.2025: From Satellite Positioning to 3D Modeling – Society Benefits from the Collaboration Between Aalto and NLS