International Charter "Space and Major Disasters"
The International Charter "Space and Major Disasters" is an association of space agencies and satellite operators with the aim of providing a unified system for the rapid acquisition and delivery of satellite data in case of a disaster or crisis situation.
The Charter members thus enable the free availability of satellite data to authorised users in the event of a disaster, such as relief and civil protection organisations or defence and security organisations, to support relief operations in the event of humanitarian or natural disasters. The data of the Charter is analysed either by the user himself or by rapid mapping organisations such as the ZKI and the results are made available to authorised users, the requesting authorities and the public as mapping products.
DLR-GZS provides DLR's technical and operational contribution to the Charter. This includes data ordering and delivery of TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X data, project management for Charter activations and the Emergency On-Call Officer function. This area of responsibility is financially supported by the BMWK.