COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation System Access Portfolio

The Constellation of Small Satellites for the Mediterranean Basin Observation (COSMO)-SkyMed Second Generation (CSG) ground segment (GS) is based on an interoperable and multimission design that provides CSG functionalities to external partners and access through the CSG to services belonging to other Earth observation (EO) partners. Moreover, the CSG GS design supports such cooperation by expansion through replication of user GSs (UGSs) in different ways. In this manner, the CSG GS is able to manage EO foreign missions by providing centralized and multimission access in an integrated environment, thus offering valuable technological solutions to the defense and civilian communities. This article provides an indepth description of the CSG system access portfolio, focusing on the architectural details of the GS that allow the provisioning and exploitation of the CSG's interoperability, expandability, and multisensor/multimission (IEM) features. © 2013 IEEE.