ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Making more space for the Market: SPOT and ERS-1 cases

• In Event: Shifting Narratives in Space Science and Technology (1)

English Abstract

The successful launch of civilian Earth observation satellites in the 1970s did not guarantee the continuation of such programs, nor did it ensure the effective use of the data they produced. As several scholars have shown, space agencies played a crucial role in fostering scientific communities willing to use these data, thereby providing political and economic justification for satellite programs.
In a moment which “classic” Cold War narratives in Space History highlight as a tipping point between the two blocks, this paper explores specific efforts led by space agencies: the creation of satellite data markets. Indeed, the observation of oceans, crops, cities, and forests from space can yield strategic and valuable resources with profound economic and social implications. Scholars have examined the exploitation of the economic value of data, particularly during the 1990s, a period marked by a global trend toward the privatization of science.
Our contribution to the history of space activities lies in identifying earlier precedents of how space agencies sought to harness satellite data for industrial benefit. We focus on the early stages of Earth observation marketing and commercial initiatives in Europe, through two case studies. The first traces the origins of the European Space Agency’s Earth observation program in 1980 and the preparatory work for the future ERS-1 satellite, along with its antecedents. The second examines how several French public and private organizations attempted to create a market for SPOT data in Latin America, opening new opportunities for a range of French industrial sectors.

Authors

• Andrea Alvarez-Laorden, Institut d'Història de la Ciència

• Hèctor Isern-Alsina, History of Science Institute, Autonomous University of Barcelona