USGS and Australia formally partner for upcoming Landsat Next satellite mission
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong signed a joint Communique bilateral statement on August 5 during the Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN), officially joining Australia to the Landsat Next Earth observation mission.
The opportunity to partner comes from the Landsat 2030 International Partnership Initiative, which was announced during the December 2023 U.S. National Space Council meeting. It is designed to enhance U.S. and partner governments’ abilities to sustainably manage their land, surface water and resource use.
“Today represents the start of a new era of collaboration with Australia's commitment to invest $200 million over the next few years to modernize its satellite ground station facilities in Alice Springs and support advanced new data processing and analytics capabilities. With this enhanced commitment, we are well positioned to maximize the societal and economic benefits of the Landsat Next mission scheduled to be launched in the early 2030s,” said Tim Newman, Program Coordinator for the USGS National Land Imaging Program.
For nearly half a century the USGS and Geoscience Australia have worked together in Earth Observation science to address complex global challenges and advance shared priorities, including climate change resilience, sustainable development, and opportunities to maximize shared economic prosperity for both nations’ citizens and the global community. Under this new agreement, Australia will provide critical ground station infrastructure, personnel, services and science in support of the Landsat Next mission.
“The Landsat Next 2030 initiative between USGS and Geoscience Australia is nothing short of transformational. The expanded partnership agreement offers numerous opportunities to enhance our integrated efforts across satellite and ground operations, data management, and land change science. It will motivate us to adopt global and multi-modal data perspectives for product development. It will inspire us to discern the latest AI methods for multiple applications. This initiative represents a pivotal step towards a more unified future in Earth observation, enabling us to unlock tremendous potential in landscape analytics for societal benefit,” remarked Dr. Pete Doucette, Director of the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center.
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