Caeli sluit zich aan bij EO-TRUST-consortium
Caeli is joining the NWO (KIC)-funded EO-TRUST research project as a partner. Together with academic, government and industry partners, Caeli will help develop a secure, reliable and independent European Earth observation infrastructure, supported by a €1 million impact grant.
Why data resilience matters
Modern society depends heavily on space infrastructure for communication, navigation, climate monitoring, disaster response and security. However, this dependency also creates vulnerabilities. Geopolitical tensions are making it increasingly possible to disrupt, intercept or restrict access to satellite systems and the data they provide.
For a country and continent that rely on Earth observation data for everything from climate policy to national security, reducing dependence on non-European infrastructure has become a strategic priority.
EO-TRUST addresses this challenge directly. The project aims to develop resilient, Europe-based data infrastructures that remain operational during disruptions, combined with reliable AI methods that improve the reliability, transparency and interpretability of satellite data, even under uncertain conditions.
Legal and ethical safeguards are integrated into the system from the outset, ensuring that the resulting infrastructure supports responsible and informed decision-making.
The consortium
EO-TRUST is led by the Amsterdam Space Law & Sustainability Centre at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, together with the University of Twente.
The project is co-funded by the Dutch Ministry of Defence and Caeli, with the Space Court Foundation and Black Holes B.V. joining as collaborating partners.
This combination of legal expertise, technical research and applied industry knowledge forms the foundation of the project. Building resilient space infrastructure requires more than technology alone; it also demands a robust legal and strategic framework for managing and using that infrastructure.
Caeli's role: turning raw data into actionable insights
Within the consortium, Caeli contributes to the practical application of Earth observation: transforming raw satellite data into reliable, ready-to-use insights. This contribution spans the entire data processing chain required to make large-scale, AI-driven Earth observation operational.
First, there is the infrastructure needed to process satellite data at scale. Observations from multiple satellite missions must be continuously collected and processed in a robust and reproducible way.
Second, the computational capacity required to run AI models on vast amounts of Earth observation data. This transforms raw satellite signals into consistent, high-resolution environmental insights.
Third, there is the domain expertise needed to make this data meaningful: years of experience applying AI to Earth observation for air quality and environmental monitoring across Europe.
This combination of infrastructure, computing power and applied AI expertise is exactly what a resilient, sovereign European Earth observation capability requires.
It is not just about being able to receive satellite data, but also about processing it reliably and at scale, and transforming it into insights that can be trusted, even under disrupted or degraded conditions.
Why this matters beyond the project
For Caeli, contributing to EO-TRUST is a natural extension of its day-to-day work: transforming satellite data into practical applications for air quality, healthy living environments and climate resilience.
Being part of a national research programme that addresses the resilience of Europe's Earth observation capabilities as a whole demonstrates just how critical reliable, independent access to environmental data has become. Not only for individual applications, but also for Europe's broader technological and strategic autonomy.
Would you like to learn more about how Caeli combines satellite data, AI and infrastructure to deliver reliable environmental insights at scale? Feel free to contact Martin Smit at martin@caeli.nl or +31 6 55772285.