ESA and the software company SAP have signed a letter of intent to develop innovative approaches for the quick and efficient processing of large amounts of Earth observation data through access to processing platforms.

The amount of data from ESA satellites - in particular the Sentinels for Europe's Copernicus programme - is a challenge for traditional data processing and handling.

Through the SAP HANA Cloud Platform, quick and efficient processing of vast amounts of Earth observation data would be possible, and would open access to many new applications and users working with the SAP cloud.

The cooperation also foresees joint promotional activities for start-up companies and small- and medium-sized enterprises. This includes events on digital transformation, such as the App Camp, and other support activities such as ESA's Business Incubation Centres.