Serco at ESA’s Living Planet Symposium 2025

From Observation to Climate Action and Sustainability for Earth

The European Space Agency’s Living Planet Symposium 2025 (LPS25) brought more than 5,000 Earth Observation professionals to the Austria Center Vienna in Austria to explore the theme ‘From Observation to Climate Action and Sustainability for Earth.’ For Serco, the week was an opportunity to showcase our integrated capabilities, ranging from Spacecraft Mission Operations to cutting‑edge digital‑twin technology, while strengthening partnerships across Europe’s rapidly evolving space ecosystem.

Showcasing our impact

This year, we were present at booth D9, as well as several ESA stands, where we connected with clients, partners, and colleagues from across the industry to present our offerings and valuable contributions to the Earth Observation space.

Our experts presented their work on Spacecraft Operations, Serco’s Space Academy, the Destination Earth initiative and the DestinE Platform, as well as multiple scientific and technical contributions.

Visitors were welcomed by our cross‑functional team: Business Development Director, Space Guido Vingione, Managing Director, Europe Stéphane Verdoy, Managing Director, Space Roberto Mulatti, Operations Director, Italy and the Czech Republic Cristiano De Vincenti, Head of Creative, Europe Richard Caso, Business Development Manager, Italy and the Czech Republic Serena Moretto, Deputy Business Development, Space Alexis Longuet, Operations Director, Germany Dominic Schäfer, System Engineer Gaia Cipolletta, Contract Manager Lidia Saavedra de Miguel, and Earth Observation and Remote Sensing Engineer Giulia Cammarata, who were eager to connect and exchange ideas and knowledge.

Space Mission Operations & Training Excellence

Our Space Mission Operations team was represented by Senior Contract Manager Islam Alizada, Space Sales Manager Mathilde Morée, and Senior Spacecraft Operations Engineer and COP-2 Service Team Coordinator for the Sentinel-1 mission Carlo Enrico Ghisi.

At LPS25 we outlined:

• Spacecraft Operations as a Service and Specialist Consultancy 
  Serco is a partner of choice for spacecraft operations services in Europe to the European Space Agency and EUMETSAT, providing expertise to flagship European missions including Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) support to the Copernicus Sentinel fleet, the MetOp meteorological satellites, as well as the EarthCARE climate-research satellite.
  
  In addition, Serco is providing specialist consultancy on anomaly resolution, LEOP support, and ground‑segment modernisation to optimise mission safety, performance, and lifecycle resilience.
   
• Serco’s Space Academy 
  Serco’s Space Academy provides technical training across a wide range of subjects, including Earth Observation, satellite navigation, satellite communications, ground segment operations, spacecraft operations, and space engineering management, alongside training in business-focused areas such as the emerging space economy and innovation.

Scientific & Technical Contributions

During the week, our team presented seven papers, posters, and demos that demonstrate Serco’s breadth of Earth Observation contributions:

• APEX – Data‑Driven Decisions for Everyday Problems — live demo by Natalia Marsh. A city dashboard that blends satellite images, air‑quality layers and street‑level sensors to highlight heat and pollution hot spots so urban planners can act quickly.
• The IRIDE Cyber Italy project: an enabling PaaS for Digital Twin Applications — poster by Stefano Scancella. A cloud service that turns fresh satellite data into rapid‑response flood maps and air‑quality alerts for Italy’s emergency teams.
• Using Earth‑Observation Data and Deep Learning for Post‑Fire Landslide Susceptibility Assessment: The Mt. Mario Case Study — poster by Serena Moretto et al. A machine‑learning model that flags hillsides most likely to slide in the days after a wildfire.
• Validation of Greenhouse‑Gas Vertical Profiles over Rome — poster by Lorenzo Veltri Gomes. Compares satellite methane and CO₂ readings with ground instruments to improve accuracy in cities.
• EDAP+ Atmospheric domain: SPIRE GNSS‑R assessment — poster by Sabrina Pinori & Chloé Martella. Evaluates whether data from CubeSats can reliably measure ocean‑surface winds.
• SentiBoard: An Operational Dashboard for Copernicus KPIs — software demo by Alessandra Paciucci. A single screen that shows live satellite health and ground‑station schedules for mission controllers.
• Destination Earth Platform: Architecture & Roadmap — talk by Andrea Pensa and team. An inside look at how Europe is building a digital twin of Earth and when key features will go live.

DestinE: building Europe’s Digital Twin of Earth

Serco’s pivotal role in the EU‑funded Destination Earth (DestinE) initiative took centre stage:

• Flagship session: Synergies between ESA’s Digital Twin Earth and DestinE Ecosystem (24 June, Hall K1) demonstrated how organisations can plug innovations into the growing platform.
• Poster highlights: Tech Innovations for a Digital Twin of Earth (23 June) and Using EO to Build Digital‑Twin Components (24 June) explored smarter satellites, AI and HPC for high‑fidelity simulations.
• 4th DestinE User eXchange: A two‑day stakeholder forum shaping upcoming services (25–26 June).

Live demos by Andrea Pensa and colleagues showed how users will interact with the platform’s scalable modelling environment.

Strengthening Partnerships with ESA

A highlight of our attendance was the visit of Simonetta Cheli, ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes and Head of ESRIN, who joined our Business Development Director Guido Vingione to discuss how Serco’s 1,500‑strong space workforce underpins flagship programmes such as Copernicus and DestinE.

Earlier in the week, ESA Director General Dr Josef Aschbacher set the tone in his opening keynote, forecasting 12 % growth for Europe’s space‑services sector, a projection that underscores why trusted industrial partners like Serco are essential to delivering the agency’s ambitious agenda.

Key Take‑Aways

1. Digital twins are moving from concept to reality. DestinE’s user‑ready demos highlighted the pace of progress.
2. Operational excellence remains critical. Mission‑control services and training ensure satellites deliver high‑quality data every day.
3. Cross‑sector collaboration is accelerating. Presentations spanned public‑sector, commercial, and research domains, echoing ESA’s call for stronger public–private cooperation.

What’s Next?

Serco will continue to:

• Scale the DestinE platform toward full operational capability in 2026.
• Expand our support across ESA and EU Earth‑observation contracts.
• Grow Serco’s Space Academy curriculum to meet industry‑wide workforce needs.