Recognising the growing strength of Telespazio VEGA UK (a Leonardo and Thales company) in developing solutions for infrastructure monitoring, the UK Space Agency has awarded a Space for Smarter Government Project (SSGP) to a consortium of Geomatic Ventures Limited and Telespazio VEGA UK.
The innovative project demonstrated significant public sector benefits and cost savings and a clear route to market. Designed to provide regular and remote assessment of structural condition for Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) asset owners including railways, roads, harbours and flood defences, the system will provide early warning indicators of potential engineering failures through absolute motion vector mapping using a combination of satellite-based radar with precise satellite positioning.
The methodology uses a nested InSAR approach based on initial wide area, medium resolution screening to identify relevant site criticalities. Using national threshold standards, it will target higher resolution deformation studies and deliver an asset risk index to asset owners and their service contractors to inform asset condition across a range of asset types.
The project will be piloted on the Thames Estuary Asset Management 2100 (TEAM2100) Programme, a pathfinder project for the Environment Agency and its largest flood risk management programme, as well as one of the Government’s top 40 infrastructure projects.