r bulletin 99 — september 1999

ESRIN – Its Development and Role

R. FranciosiESRIN Site Management Services Department, ESA Directorate of Administration,ESRIN, Frascati, Italy

The Establishment’s main activitiesThe Earth-observation activitiesThe ESA Member States have shown asustained commitment to bringing thedevelopment of innovative European Earth-observation technologies and satellites to fullfruition via an accompanying long-termprogramme of operations and exploitation. Thishas involved hundreds of scientific groups,institutional entities and commercial servicecompanies world wide, for more than adecade. This firm programmatic commitmenthas acted both as a stimulus and as adetermining factor in the evolution of the ESRINsite.

successful entry into operation of the ERS-1satellite in 1991 and of ERS-2 in 1995 proved tobe major milestones in the evolution not only ofthe Agency’s Earth-observation programmes,but also of ESRIN.

More recently, responsibility for implementingthe Payload Data Segment of the new Envisatremote-sensing platform, and for subsequentexploitation of the Envisat mission itself, wasentrusted to the Directorate of Applicationsteam at ESRIN. This in turn necessitated the

Created in 1965 as the European Space Research Institute, ESRIN hassucceeded over the last 30 years in maintaining its own uniqueidentity, despite the constant growth of and changes in its primaryactivities. Situated in the picturesque surroundings of the CastelliRomani, southeast of Rome, ESRIN has evolved, particularly over thelast ten years, into a truly multidisciplinary centre. Although ESRIN’smain role is still firmly linked to the Earth Observation Programme,especially since the launches of the ERS-1 and ERS-2 satellites andwith management responsibility for the new Envisat ground segment,the Italian establishment is also in charge of the Agency’s corporateinformatics applications and associated infrastructures. ESA’s newVega small-launcher project has also chosen ESRIN as its base.

From the inception of the Earthnet Programmein the seventies, and the ERS programmesstarting in 1985, ESRIN has become the focalpoint for the exploitation of all ESA Earth-observation satellites. The Establishment hasbecome a regular venue of activity for all majorEuropean and Canadian industries involved inthe development and exploitation of Earth-observation systems.

The ESRIN site is today widely appreciated asan easily accessible, modern and attractivetechnical centre, capable also of accom-modating many international workshops,meetings and symposia throughout the year. Itis familiar to earth scientists and industrialistscoming from both advanced and developingcountries all over the World. Hence the

Aerial view of ESRINin the 1970’s

esrin - its development and role

installation of further major new facilitiesdedicated to Envisat exploitation on the site.Perhaps the most striking of these is a 10 mKu-band receiving antenna, which will acquirereal-time data transmissions from the polar-orbiting Envisat satellite, as they are relayedback to ESRIN via the Artemis data-relaysatellite, itself located in a fixed geostationaryposition over the equator.

This new addition to the ESRIN facilities willenable ESA to respond promptly and efficientlyto the ever-increasing demand for faster andeasier access to Earth-observation data fromanywhere in the World. Such data will berapidly acquired, transmitted to ESRIN,processed there in near-real-time, andthe resulting data products sent viahigh-speed telecommunications linksdirectly to the end-user. This servicewill be of enormous benefit to usersand decision-makers when prompt,up-to-date geospatial information isneeded from inaccessible areasstruck by natural disasters, anywhereon the planet.

The informatics activitiesThe Informatics Department at ESRIN becamepart of the Agency’s Directorate of Administrationin 1997. Managed from Frascati, but with apresence at all of the main ESA Establishments,the Department has been created to provide tothe whole Agency with all of the informaticsservices that it needs for its daily operation,including:

– development and operation of corporateand Directorate-specific information systemsfor the automation of the various processesthat management of the Agency requires

Aerial view of ESRIN in 1999

The main entrance at ESRIN

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spacecraft control) have been consolidatedin ESACOM, the name given to the unifiednetwork that satisfies the general-purposedata networking requirements of the Agency.The Wide Area Network is now supplied bya major network provider through a singleoutsourcing contract.

– A number of related services previouslysupplied through separate contracts havebeen consolidated under a single, ESA-widecontract for the provision of informaticsservices. The new contract assigns to thecontractor full responsibility for all of thetasks involved in operating and supportingthe Agency’s Common InformationTechnology Infrastructure, including• provision to end users of network,

desktop-computer, office-automation,application and help-desk support

• ensuring the existence of all managementservices required for the smooth runningof the end-user services

• reporting regularly to the InformaticsDepartment to provide continuous visibilityof the level of services provided.

– Personal computers for office automationhave been standardised, and most usershave now received a standard desktopcomputer and a standard software suite.This has greatly reduced the number ofproblems encountered due to incompatiblesoftware products experienced by theusers, and at the same time has reducedthe cost of maintenance and support.

– The Lotus Notes infrastructure has beenrationalised and extended, and means havebeen put in place by which users whonormally work with desktops other than PC’scan make use of Lotus Notes and theapplications based on it.

All of these developments have required thecontinuous adaptation over the years of the siteinfrastructure and services to the new structureand to the new technologies being applied.Space has had to be found, for instance, tohouse the ESA-wide Informatics Help Desk,and various upgrades to the site’s electricalinstallations have been undertaken in order toensure the smooth running of this and of all ofthe other informatics-related developments.

The Vega activitiesESRIN has also recently become the home forthe Project Team charged with themanagement of the Vega small-launcherProgramme. This results from a decision takenby the ESA Council in June 1998, when theStep-1 of the Vega development programmewas approved and the associatedmanagement scheme endorsed. The latterincludes the setting up of an Integrated

– provision of the infrastructure required tosupport the various systems (e.g. servers,local- and wide-area networks)

– planning, engineering, support and operationof the corporate data communicationsinfrastructure

– provision of personal computers and otheroffice-automation tools to some 2500 userslocated throughout the Agency.

The Department currently consists of about 63staff, deployed mainly in ESRIN, but with asignificant presence, designed to provide closecontact with all the users, in the other mainESA Establishments.

The grouping of all of the activities pertaining togeneral-purpose data processing in the Agencywithin a single Department has allowedconsiderable standardisation of the oftendiverse components involved. Among thesystems developed and deployed by theDepartment are the new ESA financial system(AWARDS) and several specialised Lotus Notesapplications available to all ESA users. Theunification of this task under a single Departmenthas also allowed significant progress in therationalisation of the ESA informatics infrastructure:

– All of the old mainframe computers havebeen replaced by a network of servers.

– All of the data-communication networks(with the exception of those supporting

esrin - its development and role

Programme Team (IPT) which, in addition toESA staff, will include personnel from the ItalianSpace Agency (ASI) and from the FrenchNational Space Agency (CNES).

The Vega launcher, qualification of which isplanned by the end of 2002, will offer Europethe opportunity to extend its launchingcapability to the lower end of the payloadlaunch-mass range, namely:

– 800 kg into a 1200 km Sun-synchronousorbit

– 1000 kg into a 700 km circular polar orbit

although it can also service a wide range ofother mission possibilities for, for example,scientific satellites.

Vega would eventually be launched from ESA’slaunch base in Kourou, French Guiana, wherethe dedicated ground infrastructure for the newsmall launcher is in an advanced stage ofdefinition, making maximum use of availablesynergy with the existing Ariane launch facilitiesthere.

Similarly, the choice of ESRIN as the locationfor the Vega launcher-development activities islogistically very rational given that the industrialprime contractor, the Vegaspazio companynewly established by Fiat-Avio and Aerospatiale,is based in Colleferro, just a few kilometressouth of Frascati.

The presence of the Vega team at ESRINconstitutes another addition to the site’sreservoir of novel and highly-respectedcompetences.

An integrated approach to developmentThe expansion on the ESRIN site has closelymirrored the evolution in the Establishment’sactivities and responsibilities, striving always toensure the highest possible quality in thedevelopments undertaken and the facilities andinfrastructure provided, at reasonable cost.

From the mid-1980s, with the explosion inEarth-observation activities, ESRIN began toshake off its somewhat parochial image andgradually acquired the role of a fully-fledged -albeit small - ESA Establishment. Restructuringtook place everywhere: the computer buildingwas re-furbished, the newly created ISDDivision (1988) was accommodated in a totallyremodelled building, the main entrance hall wastransformed, the archives relocated and officescreated in their place, the canteen was doubledin size, the main building was extended, and anew conference room and a much-neededtraining room added.

In the 1990s, the Establishment hasundergone a further metamorphosis, followingthe launches of ERS-1 and ERS-2, togetherwith its being allocated the management of theEnvisat Ground Segment, giving ESRIN a clearnew role. ESRIN’s customer base was therebygreatly expanded to include the very extensiveremote-sensing user community, in addition toits long-established customer base on theinformatics side.

The new role of acquiring, processing,archiving and distributing ERS data created theneed both for sophisticated image-handlingequipment and the upgrading of the existinginstallations to be compatible with the latestESA standards. The launch at the beginning ofthe next millennium of a new generation ofremote-sensing satellites, of which Envisat willbe the first, will mean even greater challengesfor ESRIN Site Services.

In the last few years, ESRIN has almostdoubled in size: in 1994, the buildings covered9000 m2, while today they cover 18 000 m2.Building activities in recent years have includedenlargement of the canteen (1993), a newoffice building and new main entrance (1994),a new power plant (1996), a new technicalbuilding (1997) for the Envisat ground-segmentactivities, provision of a new parking lot, andenlargement of the gate house (1998). All ofthe computer rooms have been moved and

The new Envisat antenna atESRIN

The evolution of the ESRINsite, from 1988 to 1998

rationalised in order to optmise the use ofspace and to create synergy between them.

The main driver behind all of this work was notsimply to build more offices for people to workin, but rather to create a functionally-integratedand architecturally-pleasing working environmentwhich would give the Establishment anatmosphere of efficiency and harmony. Aspecial effort has been made to blend the newbuildings in with the existing environment, inorder to promote communication and synergybetween the various activities on the site, andto bring the standards of a number of servicesup to the highest European level.

Along with this physical expansion of the site,both the personnel and support services havehad to be increased accordingly. The numberof personnel on site has more than doubled, toapproximately 450 today, one third of whom

are ESA staff and two-thirds are contractors.The relatively high percentage of young staffhas undoubtedly contributed to theenthusiastic and lively atmosphere at ESRIN.

The growth of activities at ESRIN has alsomeant a significant increase in visitors,meetings and conferences, bringing newrequirements for support and more complexservices, as well as greater exposure of theEstablishment to the outside world.

Conclusion The main challenge for the site-managementservices at ESRIN over the past ten years hasbeen the need to foster a unified corporateimage on a site that has not always beenblessed with a clear role and mission. This hasinvolved rethinking both the physicalinfrastructure, where an architectural anddesign uniformity has been sought, and theservice management approach, which hasbeen directed towards providing a morecohesive link between the activities and thestaff.

One of the keys to success has undoubtedlybeen the particular attention paid over theyears to careful planning in order to get themost out of the investments made, despite theEstablishment’s sometimes uncertain future.The relatively small size of the site has alloweda personalised approach, still maintaining ‘anItalian touch’, and enough flexibility to makestaff and visitors feel at home and properlycared for. This, combined with the surroundingenvironment has contributed to making ESRINa very lively and pleasant place to work. r

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