Welcoming the Minister were Finmeccanica President, Gianni De Gennaro and Telespazio CEO, Luigi Pasquali.
The company briefed Minister Orlando on its worldwide activities performed through its subsidiary e-GEOS (Telespazio 80 %, 20% Italian Space Agency) in environmental protection and specifically for territory control, maritime surveillance, and emergency management. The visit was also extended to the laboratories of e-GEOS.
Minister Orlando and his hosts discussed the status of key programs developed for the Ministry of Environment, in particular the Extraordinary Plan of Environmental Remote Sensing (PST). The Plan mapped and updated the entire national territory with the support of the Italian COSMO- SkyMed radar satellites. PST focuses on hydrogeological risk areas, on the monitoring and control of Maritime Protected Areas (MAMPIRA), and on the Control System for territorial waters for the identification of oil spills at sea, active 24/7/365 as of 2012.
Since 2007, Telespazio has been engaged, through "Love Planet Earth" program, in an international campaign of information and awareness on issues related to environmental protection entailing exhibitions, conferences, and the publication of calendars. Through high-resolution satellite imager , produced and distributed by e-GEOS, Telespazio analyzes various environmental issues related to climate change by bringing into the spotlight the most spectacular places on Earth, that also happen to be among the most compromised by phenomena such as desertification, deforestation, the intensive use of resources, melting glaciers, and the urban sprawl of megacities.
Italian Environment Minister Orlando visits Telespazio and e-GEOS
