By Johnny Sharp

While there’s little doubt that activities on Earth are largely responsible for climate change, scientists are constantly looking in all directions for ways to address it. One place that’s being explored with promising advances being made is the wider universe, and in 2023, the government launched Unlocking Space For Business, a UK Space Agency programme supporting companies to deliver operational, customer and environmental benefits through the use of satellite data and services.

For the transport and logistics industries, the programme includes a range of potential innovations such as advanced cargo tracking, management of complex fleet networks, enhancement of autonomous mobility technology, and better insights on weather and travel network hazards. Improved risk assessments is another area that offers potential advances, as well as closer monitoring of infrastructure projects.

Satellite solutions

Since its launch, the programme has engaged with over 350 organisations and supported a range of projects, and in recent months, the agency has highlighted six projects it’s funding to the tune of £1.5m. These projects use satellite technology and AI to produce climate insights, transport network solutions and accessible travel innovations to deliver practical and scalable solutions to real-world challenges. 

Among these innovations is overhead contact line specialist Furrer+Frey’s ECOFAST tool. Standing for Electrification Cost Optimisation, Feasibility Analytics and Savings Tool, ECOFAST was built in partnership with Airbus Defence and Space, using satellite imagery and AI to make railway electrification planning faster and more efficient. 

Furrer+Frey are also working on other tools such as E+BOT to reduce electrification costs, which uses its digital platform AERIAL (AI-enabled Reporting for Inputs to the Electrification Analysis Lifecycle), technology that takes data from the Pleiades Neo HD15 satellite. AI and satellite technology is “helping us make better, faster, and more data-driven decisions,” explained Noel Dolphin,

Furrer+Frey’s head of projects. “It’s opening up new ways to build smarter, greener infrastructure.”
In another funded venture, Ether Capital is partnering with AAC Clyde Space and Morphing AI to create a dashboard using satellite data and AI to help maritime finance firms track shipping emissions and manage carbon risks. 

“The project will give maritime finance institutions, insurers and operators instant insight into vessel emissions,” AAC has explained. “By turning satellite-enabled data into practical tools, the initiative supports greener shipping and strengthens the UK’s role in sustainable maritime finance.”
 

Real-world impact

Other projects funded by the Space Agency may prove useful to businesses within the transport sector. The Foresight Group’s Satellite Intelligence for Climate and Nature Risk is developing geospatial tools in partnership with Frontierra to transform satellite and AI data into financial insights, helping investors assess climate and nature-related risks. That could interest transport network stakeholders, as could Howden Resilience Laboratory’s satellite-based system to help insurers and businesses monitor land changes and meet nature-related regulations. 

Focusing on inclusive travel, MakeSense Technology are using Earth observation data to create safe walking routes for blind and visually impaired people, with a view to making spontaneous travel easier. Similarly, Rebalance Earth’s ALAN (Accelerated Landscape Assessment for Nature investments) project, which uses satellite tools to support smarter investment decisions in nature-based carbon projects such as reforestation, could find the transport sector a useful partner. 

“These projects show how the UK’s space sector is delivering real-world impact,” said Dr Craig Brown, investment director at the UK Space Agency, “using satellite data and AI to tackle climate change, decarbonise transport and improve accessibility. By supporting innovation in sectors that haven’t traditionally used space technology, we’re unlocking new economic opportunities and helping to build a more sustainable, inclusive future.”

• To read the UK Space Agency’s Unlocking Space for Business guidance document, click here
• To read CIHT’s report on the role of data and artificial intelligence in achieving transport decarbonisation, click here
  
  

Image title: Space satellite over Earth Credit: Shutterstock