We heart space. And so the news that CSIRO (the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), Australia’s national science agency has announced a research centre focused on collecting and analysing data about Earth from space, is very exciting news!

The CSIRO Centre for Earth Observation will help Australian researchers maximise the benefits of observing Earth from space. It’ll also further develop Australia’s space sector, which has an estimated worth of over $3 billion per year (according to the APAC Report 2015). The Centre will coordinate a range of Earth-observing activities within CSIRO and also influence engagement with Australian businesses, other government agencies and research organisations.

Data about Earth, collected by satellites that orbit our home planet, is essential in understanding how our world works. Satellite data is used in environmental management, for making accurate weather forecasts and monitoring natural disasters, and in commercial applications such as precision agriculture and transport logistics. It even comes handy for humanitarian work such as solving refugee crises. Or, you know, taking a sneak peek at North Korea’s elite family compounds! But we digress.

The NovaSAR satellite will provide CSIRO (and the wider Australian research community) with access to an advanced form of radar technology known as ‘S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar’, or S-band SAR, which  provides high resolution images of Earth from space.

Suffice to say, we’re stoked!