Operations in harsh environments require the means and methods to explore, understand, measure, model, design, interpret, predict, produce, simulate, exploit and implement technologies under harsh conditions. The space sector can respond to these. The project start-up included mobilization of two research nodes. The Oil and Gas Node is operated by C-CORE and the Mining Node by the Geomechanics Research Centre of Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario. This indicates the level of support by industry for the new venture.
Several projects are now underway and include the ones listed below.
The Grand Banks present the worst fog conditions in the world. Shallow gas hazards in deep-water seabeds, where the need to identify the areas of shallow gas are vital to the safety and efficiency of drilling and construction operations for oil exploration and recovery. Monitoring of ground motion through the use of synthetic aperture radar interferometry from space as it relates to the movement and integrity of oil and gas pipelines. Geosensing, which uses sensors for near real-time sensing of physical parameters at the drill head. The evaluation of ESA's simulation tools for mining and other applications in mining operations.