EO Products and Services

While the EO product and service industry has been populous and strong for years, the emergence of new players in the satellite system industry has brought with it a wave of changes. In particular, there is now greater than ever diversity in the way in which EO products and services can be purchased, from directly from the satellite operator to VAS providers themselves and purpose-designed sales-only platforms, aggregating the offering of various providers together.

Much like the satellite system mapping above, the catalogue maps of EO products and services maps civilian-accessible products, available on a commercial (or otherwise public) basis. This catalogue is product/service- rather than player-oriented, but there are high-level illustrative examples of providers for each of the products or services that are currently available in the market.

The catalogue is provided in order of increasing processing effort required to arrive at actionable insights. Key features of the products and services, as relevant to end-users, are mapped, including a description of their objectives, content and format, their performance and limitations, illustrative price range, input data, example providers (as noted above), and an indication of the degree of EO / GIS expertise required to use them. Furthermore, in the product description, some key example use cases are highlighted, with a deep-dive on two of those provided in the upcoming section. 

This table provides a comprehensive overview of various Earth Observation products relevant to infrastructure and environmental monitoring, focusing on roads, railways, and related natural factors. Each row corresponds to a specific EO-based product, describing key attributes and considerations for its use.

Columns Explained:

• Product: The specific EO application or output, such as road extraction or flood maps.

• EO Expertise Required: Indicates the level of expertise needed to interpret and use the EO data effectively, ranging from low/none to high.

• Purpose: Describes the main objective of the product, such as detecting infrastructure, monitoring environmental risks, or assessing damage.

• Uses: Practical applications of the product, including infrastructure planning, risk assessment, maintenance, disaster response, and environmental monitoring.

• Spatial: The spatial resolution or scale at which the product operates, from sub-meter (<1 m) precision to broader scales like 10–50 km.

• Temporal: How often the data or product is updated or collected—ranging from hourly/daily to yearly or on-demand.

• Accuracy: The typical reliability or correctness of the product, often given as a percentage.

• Constraints: Challenges or limitations affecting the product’s performance, such as dense vegetation, cloud cover, urban complexity, or atmospheric conditions.

• Price: The relative cost to produce or access the product, indicated by euro signs (€ to €€€).

• Input Data: Types of satellite or remote sensing data used, including optical imagery, SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar), hyperspectral data, altimeters, thermal sensors, or Lidar.