COSMO-SkyMed mission status: Results, lessons learnt and evolutions

In 2003, the Italian Space Agency (ASI), supported by the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) and the Ministry of Defense (It-MoD), commissioned and funded the COSMO-SkyMed (COnstellation of small Satellites for the Mediterranean basin Observation) mission, an Earth Observation Dual Use System (civil and military) for the monitoring of Resources, Natural Disasters and National Security. COSMO-SkyMed system, which represents the Italian biggest investment in the Earth Observation (EO) field, was realized by TAS-I (Thales Alenia Space Italy) as the industrial prime contractor for the Space Segment, and Telespazio as prime contractor for the Ground Segment, logistic and operations. For what concern the commercial distribution of COSMO-SkyMed products, ASI and Telespazio have constituted the e-GEOS company.