歐洲專利局2022天載傳感和綠色應用專利洞察報告

Space-bornesensing

andgreenapplications

Patentinsightreport

SPACE-BORNESENSINGANDGREENAPPLICATIONS:PATENTINSIGHTREPORT

Tableofcontents

1.

Executivesummary3

2

.Introduction5

2

.1Remotesensingviasatellites................................................................................................................................................................

5

2

.2Greenapplications...................................................................................................................................................................................6

2

.3Fundamentalsofthespace-bornesensingvaluechain.................................................................................................................8

2

.4Evolvinginvestmentdynamicsandcommercialperspectives.....................................................................................................9

2

.5Keytechnologydevelopments............................................................................................................................................................10

2

.6Thestudy..................................................................................................................................................................................................12

2

.7Usingpatentinformation.....................................................................................................................................................................13

2

.8Methodology...........................................................................................................................................................................................14

3

.Analysis15

3

.1Patentfilingactivityinspace-bornesensinghasgrownrapidly,notablysurpassingtheoveralltrendline...................15

3

.2Adiversesetofkeyobservablesdrivepatentfilingactivity.......................................................................................................17

3

.3PatentfilingsfromChineseapplicantsprevailinthelocalperspectivewhereasUSapplicantsleadin

internationalpatentfamilies..............................................................................................................................................................

19

3

.4Patentapplicationsrelatedtosignalprocessing(softwareratherthanhardware)drivethemajorityofpatent

filingactivity............................................................................................................................................................................................21

3

.5Comparabletrendlinesforthreegroupsofgreenapplications.................................................................................................25

3

.6Europeanactivityremainslimitedandappearstostagnateintheglobalperspective,withthemajorityofpatent

applicationsoriginatinginthetraditionalEuropeanspacefaringcountries..........................................................................26

3

.7SpotlightonSDGs...................................................................................................................................................................................28

4

.Conclusions29

5.Limitsofthestudy29

6.Glossary3

0

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Introduction

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Analysis

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Limitsofthestudy

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Glossary

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SPACE-BORNESENSINGANDGREENAPPLICATIONS:PATENTINSIGHTREPORT

1.Executivesummary

Thisstudy,thethirdintheseriesofcollaborativepatentinsightreportsbytheEuropeanPatentOffice(EPO)andtheEuropeanSpacePolicyInstitute(ESPI)incollaborationwiththeEuropeanSpaceAgency(ESA),investigates

globalpatentfilingtrends(2001-2020)inthedomainof“greenapplications”ofspace-bornesensing.

Remotesensingviasatellitesinspaceincreasingly

servesavarietyofpublicandprivateusers,supportingimportantpublicpolicyobjectivesaswellasdiverse

businessendeavours.Thisstudyputsaparticular

spotlightontheutilityofspace-bornesensingasan

indispensabletoolforaneffectiveimplementationof

greenpoliciesandobjectives.Thesecanbeapplicationsofremotesensingdatainsupportofmitigatingclimatechange,predictingweather,detectingpollution,

protectingbiodiversityormonitoringtheenvironment.Morespecifically,space-bornesensingtechnologies

provideessentialtoolsinsupportofthe2030AgendaforSustainableDevelopment.

Figure1:

Growthrateofpatentfilingactivity(bypublicationyear)ingreenapplicationsofspace-bornecomparedwithfilinginalltechnologies

2000%

1800%

1600%

1400%

1200%

1000%

800%

600%

400%

200%

alltechnologiesspace-borne

14.529

2.125

29.295

>75.500000

Overallpatentfamilies

acrossallsectors

Patentfamiliesinthespace-bornesensingdomain

Patentfamiliesingreen

applicationsofspace-bornesensing

Patentfamiliesfiledinmorethanonejurisdiction1

Theanalysisofglobalpatentfilingstatisticshighlightedthefollowingkeytrends:

—Filingsofpatentfamiliesingreenapplicationsof

space-bornesensingincreasedin2020by1800%

comparedwiththenumberoffilingsin2001.Thisisveryhighcomparedwiththegrowthofglobalpatentfilingsinalltechnologyfields,whichamountedto

400%inthesameperiod.

—Chinesepatentfilingactivityprevailsintheoverallperspective,drivenbydomesticpatentfiling,whileUSapplicantsleadininternationalpatentfamilies.

1Internationalpatentfamilies–asareliableproxyforinventiveactivity

providingacontrolforpatentqualitybyonlyrepresentinginventionswhosevaluetheinventorconsiderstobesufficienttoseekprotectioninternationally.

Figure2:

Europeanpatentfilingactivityvis-à-vistherestoftheworld(internationalpatentfilingsonly)

23%

77%

EPCNon-EPC

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Glossary

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25.000

0

5.000

10.000

SPACE-BORNESENSINGANDGREENAPPLICATIONS:PATENTINSIGHTREPORT

—Patentapplicationsrelatedtosignalprocessing

(softwareratherthanhardware)drivethemajorityofpatentfilingactivity.

—Europeanactivityremainslimitedandseemstostagnateintheglobaloutlook,withmostactivityoriginatingfromtraditionalspacefaringEuropeancountriessuchasFrance,GermanyandtheUnitedKingdom.

Thevastutilityofspace-bornesensinginaddressing

profoundsocietalchallenges,asevidencedbysustained

publicinvestmentandemergingcommercialventures,willlikelyprovidefertilegroundforcontinuedgrowthinpatentfilingactivity.

Figure3:

Technologybreakdownofpatentfilingsconsideredinthereport

microwave

optical

gravimeters

signal-processing

allrechnologies

15.000

20.000

30.000

greenapplicationsnon-greenapplications

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SPACE-BORNESENSINGANDGREENAPPLICATIONS:PATENTINSIGHTREPORT

2.Introduction

2.1Remotesensingviasatellites

Todaytheinternationalcommunity,indevelopedand

developingcountriesalike,isdependentonspace

technologiesduetothehugesocio-economicand

securitybenefitstheyprovideforday-to-daylifeonEarth.Dataandservicesenabledbysatelliteshavebecome

anintegralpartofmodernsociety,servingavarietyof

publicpolicyobjectives,butalsocommercialneeds,as

evidencedbythecontinuinggrowthofthesector.Amongdifferentspace-enabledapplications(e.g.localisation,

navigation,timesynchronisationandlong-distance

communications),space-borneremotesensinghaslongbeenoneofthemostprominentapplicationsoftheuseofspacetechnologies.

Remotesensingcanbebroadlycharacterisedas

gatheringdata“aboutanareaorphenomenonthroughadevicethatdoesnottouchtheareaorphenomenon

understudy”2.Remotesensingviasatellitesinspacecanreveallong-termenvironmentaltrendlines,detectillegalactivities,monitorindustrialandagriculturalproductionorprovideearlywarninginsupportofnationalsecurityandmyriadotherusefulapplications.

Space-borneremotesensingisoneamongdifferentdatasourcesinthegeospatialintelligencerealm.Comparedwithotherformsofsensingusedtoprovideinsightsintoactivities,developmentsandlong-termtrendsonEarth(e.g.in-situoraerialsensing),theuseofsatellitesofferssomeuniqueadvantages(e.g.freedomofoperation

ofspacecraftinEarth’sorbit,coverage,opportunityforregularrevisits…),enablingdifferentusecasesandbusinessopportunities.

Simultaneously,employingsatellitesforvarioustypesofapplications,includingremotesensing,comesatacostofspecifictechnologyproblems,regulatorychallengesaswellasasignificantfinancialburden.Nevertheless,thankstoadvancesintechnology,solutionsenabled

byspace-borneremotesensingdataareincreasinglyaccessible,includingfornon-technicalendusers.In

turn,rapidlyevolvingsatellitedataisprovidingnew

opportunitiesforpeople,businessesandgovernmentsaroundtheworld.

Overthelast20years,1460satelliteshavebeen

launchedforremotesensingpurposes,addressinga

varietyofapplicationareas,includingweather,science,disastermanagement,andsecurityanddefence.A

largemajorityofthesespacecrafthavebeenputinto

orbit3inthelasteightyears,notablybenefitingfrom

miniaturisationofspacetechnology,whichisamajor

trendinthespacesectoratlarge.Satelliteslaunchedintoorbitareincreasinglysmalldevices(lessthan500kg).

Smallersizegenerallydrivesdowntheproductionandlaunchcosts,althoughitcanhaveaprofoundimpactonthecapabilitiesofagivenspacecraft.Furthermore,thisalsofacilitateslaunchingremotesensingsatellitesin

largerconstellations,enablingbetterrevisittimeswithmoresatellitesacrosstheglobe.

2

/content/remote-sensing/

3MostlythelowerportionoftheLowEarthOrbit,withmeanorbitalaltitudesoflessthan1000km.

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SPACE-BORNESENSINGANDGREENAPPLICATIONS:PATENTINSIGHTREPORT

Figure4:

Numberofremotesensingspacecraftlaunchedperyear

overthepasttwodecades,comparedwithaveragesize

(Source:ESPIDatabase)

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

20022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201310142015201620172018201920202021

4.500

4.000

3.500

3.000

2.500

2.000

1.500

1.000

500

0

RemotesensingspacecraftlaunchedAveragemassofaremotesensingstellite(kg)

2.2Greenapplications

Thisstudyputsaspotlightontheutilityofspace-bornesensingforeffectiveimplementationof“green”policy

objectives.Thesecanbeapplicationsinsupportof

mitigatingclimatechange,predictingweather,detectingpollution,protectingbiodiversityormonitoringthe

environment.Asremotesensingdatacanalsohelp

tomakehumanactivities(e.g.economicactivity,or

activitiesinthefieldsofenergyortransportation)moreenvironmentallyandclimatefriendly,theyarecritical

forsustainabledevelopment.Tofacilitatetheanalysisinthelatterpartofthisreport,threebroadgroupsofgreenapplicationsofspace-bornesensinghavebeenidentified:

1.Understandingclimatechange(UCC)–Space-bornesensingprovidesessentialcontributionstoany

sustainablesolutiontoclimatechange,acrossthe

keyphasesofmonitoring,understanding,modelling,predictingandacting.

2.Enablingthegreentransitionofeconomiesand

industries(GTE)–Space-bornesensingenablesthetransformationofeconomicactivitiesintomore

sustainableandefficientandlesspollutingactivities.

3.Protectingbiodiversity,ecosystemsandthe

environment(BEE)–Space-borneremotesensingisapowerfultoolinsupportoftheprotectionandpreservationoftheenvironment.

Whiletherenaturallyaresomefunctionaloverlaps

betweenthethreegroups,thelistbelowdemonstratesafewselectedusecasesforeachgroup:

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SPACE-BORNESENSINGANDGREENAPPLICATIONS:PATENTINSIGHTREPORT

Understandingclimatechange

Usecase:Measuringarcticseaiceextent

Afour-decadetimeseriesusingdatafrommultiple

satellitemissionsoverthisperiodhighlightsthatthe

arcticseaiceextenthasbeensubstantiallylowerin

recentyearsthanthemedianobservedbetween1981

and2010(linesingrey).Thissuggestsasignificantclimate

change-relatedissue,whichisalsoattheheartofone

oftheSustainableDevelopmentGoals,namelySDG13:

ClimateAction

ImageCredit:EUMETSAT

Enablingthegreentransitionofeconomies

andindustries

Usecase:Enablingprecisionandsmartagriculture

Cropandfarminganalyticsbasedonsatellitedata

improveagriculturalproductionbyprovidinginformed

viewsonwhereandwhentosow,fertilise,harvest,etc.

Inthisandotherindustrialusecases,privateproviders

oftenprovidetheirservicestoendusersdirectly,relying

ontailoredandproprietarysoftwaresolutions.

ImageCredit:Airbus

Protectingbiodiversity,ecosystemsandthe

environment

Usecase:Monitoringatmosphericpollution

DatafromtheCopernicusSentinel-5Psatelliteprovide

insightsintonitrogendioxideconcentrationsinthe

atmosphereovernorthernItaly,contributingtoour

understandingofthisairpollutionthatnegatively

impactsthehealthofanimalsandhumans(e.g.by

causingrespiratoryproblems),degradestheenvironment

andcontributestothedevelopmentofotherair

pollutants.

ImageCredit:modifiedCopernicusSentineldataprocessedbyKNMI/ESA

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SPACE-BORNESENSINGANDGREENAPPLICATIONS:PATENTINSIGHTREPORT

Morebroadly,space-bornesensingtechnologiesprovidevaluabletoolsinsupportofthe2030Agendafor

SustainableDevelopment,closelylinkedtoseveralofthe17UnitedNationsSustainableDevelopmentGoals(SDGs),inparticular:

Itistheresponsibilityofgovernmentstosetandmeet

nationaltargetsthatcollectivelywillhelptoachieve

theglobalambition.AddressingtheSDGsinvolves

data-andstatistics-drivenstrategies.Inthisregard,thereishugepotentialforspace-borneremotesensingdata

tosupporttheaimoftheUN2030Agenda,asspace-

borneobservationsare,bytheirverynature,borderless,impartialandinclusive.Space-bornesensingisalsoa

crucialdatasourceformanyoftheindicatorsdescribing

environmentalaspectsoftheplanet,andasaspatial

disaggregationmethodofothergeospatialstatistics4.Thiscrucialimportanceofspace-bornesensingforSDGsisfurtherreflecteduponinthepatentdataanalysispartofthisreport.

2.3Fundamentalsofthespace-bornesensingvaluechain

TheUnitedNations’RemoteSensingPrinciplesof19865notethattheterm“remotesensingactivities”means

theoperationofremotesensingspacesystems,primarydatacollectionandstoragestations,andactivities

inprocessing,interpretinganddisseminatingthe

processeddata.Attheheartofspace-borneremote

sensing,therearethefundamentalquestionsofsensortypeandperformance,asdifferentspectralrangesofelectromagneticradiationorgravitationalforcesrevealdifferentinsights.

Atthesametime,remotesensingfromspaceisadata-drivendomain,increasinglyfacingissuesrelatedtothegenerationofmassivevolumesofdataandtheirstorage,processingandanalysis,thusposingspecifictechnologychallenges.

Ingeneral,thevaluechainofspace-borneremotesensingsolutionsconsistsofthefollowingkeysteps:

Missionandspacecraft

design

Specificationofthefundamentaltechnologyandoperationalcharacteristicsframingthe

boundariesofwhatagivensatelliteorsatelliteconstellationcouldachieveduringitstimeinorbit

Manufacturing,testing,launchanddeploymentofsatellite(s)

Necessaryactivitiesin(notonly)thespace-bornesensingvaluechain,translatingthesystemfromwhiteboarddesigntoafull-fledgedoperationalsysteminEarthorbit

Satelliteoperationsand

dataacquisition

Akeysetofactivitiesintendedtomeetthemissionobjectives,suchasplanningofobservations,tasking,dataacquisitionandtransmissiontogroundinfrastructuresforfurtherprocessing

Dataprocessingand

analytics

Activitiesrelatedtotheprocessingofrawdatageneratedbythespacecraftintomeaningfulinformationandactionablevalue-addedproductsanddatasets(includingimagerestoration,noiseabatement,imageenhancement,etc.)6

Deliveryoffinalproductsorservicestoendusers

Processesrelatedtotheprovisionofspace-bornesensingproductstoendusers(data,analytics,softwaresubscribedservice/SaaS,etc.).Theseprocessescantakevariousforms,suchas

contractualdeliveries,commercialtransactionsorpublicserviceprovision

4

/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/EO_Compendium-for-SDGs.pdf

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/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/principles/remote-sensing-principles.html

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nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/earthsciences/pdf/

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SPACE-BORNESENSINGANDGREENAPPLICATIONS:PATENTINSIGHTREPORT

Practiceinthespace-borneremotesensingsector

suggeststhatpublicorprivatestakeholderscanbe

engagedacrossalltheactivitiesinthevaluechain,

butcanalsospecialiseinoneortwospecificsteps.Inparticular,somepublicactorsandprivatecompaniesappeartofocusexclusivelyondataanalysisand

subsequentactivitiesinthevaluechain,withoutbeingengagedinthepreviousstepsatall.

Suchactorscouldeitherprocuredatafromsatellite

dataprovidersorbenefitfrompublicprogrammes,suchasCopernicus7inEuropeorLandsatintheUS,which

implementfreedatapolicies,includingforcommercialpurposes.Thisreducestheentrybarrierandimprovesbusinessperspectivesascompaniesenteringthe

sectorarenotfacedwiththeneedformassivecapitalexpendituresrelatedtothedeploymentofdedicatedspacehardware.

2.4Evolvinginvestmentdynamicsandcommercialperspectives

Fordecades,governmentshavesustainedpublicinvestmentsinvarioussatelliteremotesensing

programmes.IntheEuropeancontextalone,thereareseveralongoingspace-bornesensinginitiativesimplementedbyvariousorganisations:

—theCopernicusprogramme,co-fundedbytheEUandESA,providingEuropewithcomprehensiveremotesensingcapabilities,freelyavailabledataandtailoredservicesforavarietyofusers

—ESA’sseriesofscience-drivenEarthExplorermissions

—EUMETSAT’sseriesofmeteorologysatellitesMeteosatandMetop

—nationalorcollaborativesatellitemissionsby

individualEuropeancountries,especiallyforthearmedforcesandintelligencecommunities.

Theimportanceofspace-bornesensingforgovernmentscouldbefurtherevidencedbyrecentactivitiesaroundtheworld.Someexamples:

—In2021,China’scivilandmilitaryinstitutionsdeployedmorethan40remotesensingsatellites.

—Alsoin2021,Canadalaunchedadedicatednational

Earthobservationstrategy,notingthecriticalroleofsatelliteremotesensinginday-to-dayevidence-baseddecision-makingandplanning.

—In2022,AustraliaannouncedthelaunchofaNationalSpaceMissionforEarthObservation(NSMEO)

programmewithfoursatellites,worthclosetoAUD1.2billion.

Inadditiontodevelopingandoperatingactualsatellites,publicactorsengageinotherpartsoftheremotesensingvaluechain,fosteringgreateruptakeofdatabymore

users,entrepreneurshipandcommercialisationofspace-bornesensingdata.

Beyondthepublicdimension,inrecentyearsthespace-bornesensingdomainhasshowcasedparticularbusinessdynamics.Leadingeconomicassessmentsofthesatellite-enabledEarthobservationsectorconvergein:

—notingaconsiderableincreaseinthenumberof

companiesengagedinthesectorandexpansionintermsofsales,revenuesandinvestment;and

—anticipatingacontinuinggrowthtrendline(>5%CAGR)overthenextdecade,particularlyinNorthAmericaandEurope.

Withregardtomarketsizeassessment,andinparticularthedataandvalue-addedservicesdimension,recent

estimatesonmarketsizeandrevenuesinspace-bornesensingrangefromEUR2.7billiontoEUR5billion,,

dependingonthescopeandmethodologyofreporting.

7Europe’sEarthobservationprogrammeCopernicus,headedbytheEuropeanCommission(EC)inpartnershipwithESA,isthe

world’smostcomprehensivesatelliteEarthobservationprogramme.ItiscomposedofaseriesofSentinelsatellites,accompanied

bycontributingthird-partysatellites.Copernicusprovidesaunifiedsystemthroughwhichvastamountsofdataarefedintoarangeofthematicservices:landmanagement,themarineenvironment,theatmosphere,emergencyresponse,securityandclimatechange.

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SPACE-BORNESENSINGANDGREENAPPLICATIONS:PATENTINSIGHTREPORT

AccordingtodatafromtheEuropeanAssociationofRemoteSensingCompanies,2020sawa24%growthinthenumberofcompaniesassociatedwiththeEarthobservationindustrycomparedwith2019.

Figure5:

Theaccessibilityofthesectorprovidesfertilegroundforengagementofstart-upsandSMEs,alsoinlaterstagesofthevaluechainsuchasprovisionofdata,productsandservicestocustomers.

Earthobservationmarketforecastsfortheyear2028

(Source:NSR-NSR’sSatellite-BasedEarthObservation(EO),11thEdition,2020)

2028globalsatellite-basedEarthobservationrevenues

Instrument

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

Region

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

Sector

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

Optical

SAR

Non-Imagery

NorthAmericaLatinAmericaEurope

Middle-eastandAfricaAsia

Defense&Intelligence

ManagedLivingResourcesEnergy&NaturalResources

Industrial

Services

PublicAuthorities

2.5Keytechnologydevelopments

Technologydevelopmentsforspace-bornesensingare

manifoldasspecifictechnologiesandneedsexistfor

almosteveryapplicationandmission.Thetargeted

technologiesforthisstudycanbeclassifiedintofour

pillars:

Activeandpassiveopticalinstrumentplatformsandrelatedsubsystems

Activeandpassive

microwaveinstrumentplatformsandrelated

Gravimetersandrelatedsubsystems

Methodsforsignalprocessing

Overall,theongoingandfuturetechnology

developmentswilltargetkeyareassuchas:11

—advancementsininstrumentperformance,includinghigherspatial,spectral,radiometricandtemporal

resolution

—abeneficialcostratiowithregardtoplatform

standardisation,increasedflexibilityandlifetimeandloweroverallcost

—miniaturisationofinstrumentsandplatforms

8

/press-release/towards-a-7-5b-earth-observation-data-service-market-by-2030/

9

euspa.europa.eu/european-space/euspace-market/earth-observation-market

10

/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/EARSC-Industry-survey-2021.pdf

11

/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/Technology_Harmonisation

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SPACE-BORNESENSINGANDGREENAPPLICATIONS:PATENTINSIGHTREPORT

—advancedmissionconceptsforconstellations,convoysandformationflight

—long-termdatacontinuity

—advancementsinmachinelearningandAIforpatternandfeaturerecognitionandBigDataanalysis.

Othercriticaltechnologybuildingblocksandmarket

demandshavebeenidentifiedwiththeEuropeanSpaceAgency,theTechnologyHarmonisationAdvisoryGroupandotherstakeholdersthroughtheEuropeanSpace

TechnologyHarmonisationprocess.12Thesubsectionsbelowprovidesomeadditionaldetails.

Lidarh