Accelerating climate action through space innovation
The innovation lab Vienna Geospace Hub accelerates the transition to carbon neutrality by leveraging geospatial and satellite data for sustainable urban planning. As a central interface, our innovation lab facilitates collaboration among government, academia, and industry to develop innovative & sustainable urban solutions. Funded by FFG with a mandate for networking and coordination between administration, society, science, and business.
Our vision
The innovation lab Vienna Geospace Hub accelerates the transition to carbon neutrality by leveraging geospatial and satellite data for sustainable urban planning. As a central interface, our lab facilitates collaboration among government, academia, and industry to develop innovative & sustainable urban solutions. Funded by FFG with a mandate for networking and coordination between administration, society, science, and business.
Our vision
Why space data?
Unlocking the potential of space for sustainability
Satellite data is pivotal for advancing sustainability. It serves as a decision-making foundation upon which urban solutions can be developed. The data provides high-resolution measurements across both space and time for a diverse range of users, often free of charge. Space data eliminates the need for targeted data collection, as satellite data is continuously updated.

This map shows a land surface temperature¬ acquisition by Landsat 9 from the 10.09.23. Surface temperatures are generally higher than air temperature.

This image depicts the landscape of Vienna and surrounding as we see it with the naked eye using the bands of red, green and blue. Image was taken on 20.03.2024 in 10m resolution

In this false colour composite the vegetation appears in bright red. The chlorophyll in plants reflects infrared light, the healthier and denser the vegetation, the brighter the red in the image. Image was taken on 20.03.2024 in 10m resolution.

This map shows the land cover and land use classified in different categories and based on Sentinel 1 and 2 data.
Why space data?
Unlocking the potential of space for sustainability
Satellite data is pivotal for advancing sustainability. It serves as a decision-making foundation upon which urban solutions can be developed. The data provides high-resolution measurements across both space and time for a diverse range of users, often free of charge. Space data eliminates the need for targeted data collection, as satellite data is continuously updated.


Vienna is changing. The urban development of Seestadt Aspern can be observed using Sentinel-2 imagery. Move the slider to see the changes in the landscape between 2017 and 2023.


These Sentinel-2 images show the soil moisture index between the Danube and Neusiedler See. The blue tone represents wet surfaces or saturated soils. The redder the area, the drier or more barren the soil is. Use the slider to view the differences between August 2022 and May 2024.

This image was taken by the Pléiades Neo mission, which is a satellite system that captures very detailed pictures of Earth with a resolution of up to 30 cm. These high-resolution images are used in many areas, like city mapping, disaster response, insurance, checking infrastructure, and farming.

The image shows the border between Austria and the Czech Republic with the Thaya River flowing along the boundary. The differences in field shapes are striking. This is a Sentinel-2 image in false color, using infrared wavelengths, where fields and settlements appear in pink, and forests or denser vegetation in green.
Vienna Geospace Hub on LinkedIn
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Empowering partners for a sustainable tomorrow
The lab functions as sparring-partner and addresses a diverse audience, including researchers, businesses, start-ups, public administration, and the general public. Promoting easy access and usability for everyone by offering tailored support and guidance for innovation activities in whole Austria and a strong collaboration with the administration of Vienna.
Expertise and Knowledge Cultivation
As a bridge between innovative actors in businesses, research institutions, and administration, we facilitate knowledge exchange and the development of real use cases based on societal questions through the application of satellite data. Through events, lectures, and internal trend scouting initiatives, we provide an overview of the state of the art in research and the landscape of initiatives and companies in Austria. Our goal is to serve as a sparring partner, offering in-depth expertise on satellite data and their integration into operational services.
Networking and Accessibility
Our goal is to ensure an easy entry and active involvement for anyone wishing to leverage the potential of satellite data. With access to our innovation network, encompassing research, administration, businesses, and society, we provide a wide range of networking opportunities. From networking events and use-case workshops to the formation of consortia for collaborative projects, we support various activities aimed at lowering the barriers to data application and driving forward innovative solutions.
Project Management and Support
Our comprehensive service package accompanies the evolution of your ideas into concrete innovation projects. As a strategic partner, we connect you with experts and solution providers to initiate knowledge transfer and create synergies. Our in-house expert teams offer consulting on key topics such as energy, mobility, urban and district development, as well as digitization and satellite data. We support you with grant applications and project submissions, as well as project management. Additionally, we ensure the marketing and communication of your project results, including data visualization and success stories. Our process support and quality assurance guarantee the smooth execution of your projects.
Experimentation and Development Environment
The lab provides a development and test environment in which innovative use cases for data-driven solutions can be demonstrated and developed for market launch. We ensure data availability and provide you with access to comprehensive data sets suitable for your topic. A range of satellite data can be made available, from raw data to product-ready data and maps. Through our close cooperation with the EODC, access to high-performance computing power is made possible so enabling you or our cooperation partners to process the data tailored to your project. We work closely with the DAVIS of the TU Vienna, especially for data visualization and communication of results. In addition, we provide mobile mapping equipment to supplement space data sets.
Quality Assurance
Leveraging our team’s expertise and experienced interdisciplinary collaboration partners, we precisely evaluate the project quality. Encompassing idea viability and feasibility to ensure a successful project launch and market entry.
Our approach

2023 – 2024
Inception phase
- Concept of action
- development of operational models
- initial strategic partnerships
2024 – 2028
Operation phase
- Partner activities
- growth of number and scope of projects
- aquisition of new partners
- continuous development
2024 +
Evolution phase
- Transfer into a sustainable
- economical operation
- further growth and development
We make innovation happen
Fostering CollaborativeImpact
The lab fosterscollaboration between solution providers, researchers and end-users, offering flexible engagement mechanisms for partners to build synergies, identify opportunities, and boost the impact of space-based
solutions.
Assistance throughout the project lifecycle
The Lab initiates and supports innovation projects from idea to market launch, covering the entire process with our comprehensive services. Join our Community of Practice for technology transfer and networking, offering educational opportunities for diverse users. Our tailored support includes technical feasibility analysis and financing mechanism identification. For project success, we provide physical experimentation spaces and test environments for developing innovative use cases.
Creating Economic Opportunities that leverage the European Space infrastructure:
Facilitating the development of sustainable, commercial solutions across industries, based on data provided by the ESA Copernicus Sentinel Services, thereby supporting user uptake and fostering economic growth within a decarbonized economy.
Contact us
May we introduce the team:
Mag. Marcel Simoner, MA
Eliza-Maria Link, BSc
Thiemo Rydlo, BSc
Maximilian Kastens, MSc
DI Julia Sauskojus