CGI, one of the world's largest independent IT and business consulting services firms, is supporting the European Space Agency's (ESA) Φsat-2 mission, with its Insula platform serving as a key enabler of artificial intelligence-driven advancements in Earth observation. Developed by CGI's team in Italy, Insula processes and harmonizes large volumes of satellite data, enabling advanced analytics such as trend detection, anomaly monitoring and predictive modelling.
For the Φsat-2 mission, the platform provides calibrated and geolocated datasets to scientific communities and AI application providers. Open to the public since June 2025, Insula has enabled more than 3,000 users to access satellite mission data and delivered over 10,000 multispectral images. The platform supports developers in training AI models using real-world satellite data, accelerating innovation across a range of applications.
"The Φsat-2 mission demonstrates new approaches to Earth observation techniques, with results shared through Insula," said Nino Pace, Vice-President Consulting Services for Italy at CGI. "This innovation marks an important step in applying AI to Earth observation, helping unlock new insights and improve operational efficiency."
Φsat-2, one of ESA's most advanced small satellites, explores how AI running directly onboard can enhance Earth observation capabilities. The mission enables real-time, independent functions such as cloud detection and the automatic discarding of unusable imagery, maritime vessel detection and classification, street map generation, AI-based image compression and reconstruction on the ground, environmental monitoring, and support for emergency response scenarios, including fire detection.
"The innovative use of onboard processing and AI on Φsat-2 demonstrates the potential to deliver timely, high-quality information to Earth observation stakeholders," said Mirko Albani, Φsat-2 Mission Manager at ESA. "ESA's open data policy expands access to Φsat-2 multispectral data, supporting broader engagement and demonstrating how small satellites can deliver valuable insights across diverse applications."
"Our collaboration with ESA in Italy builds on more than a decade of experience in advancing innovation in Earth across Earth observation, mission operations and planetary monitoring," said Alberto Anaya, Business Unit Leader for Spain and Italy at CGI. "Through the expertise of our teams, we support the delivery of advanced technologies to the scientific community and contribute to the future of space exploration."
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