IrIDE, the Euro-Italian Earth Observation Program: Overview, Current Progress, Global Expectations, and Recommendations +
Footnote †: This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ([[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)]([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))).  
[PERSON]  
1 Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (DISAFA)--GEO4 Agri DISAFA Lab, Universita Degli Studi di Torino, Largo Paolo Braccini 2, 10095 Gruglaso, Italy; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]
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[PERSON]  
3 Italian Society of Remote Sensing--Associazione Italiana di Telerilevamento (AIT), 50142 Firenze, Italy; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]
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[PERSON]  
1 Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (DISAFA)--GEO4 Agri DISAFA Lab, Universita Degli Studi di Torino, Largo Paolo Braccini 2, 10095 Gruglaso, Italy; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
Footnote 1: [[https://www.mdpi.com/journal/environsciproc/](https://www.mdpi.com/journal/environsciproc/)]([https://www.mdpi.com/journal/environsciproc/](https://www.mdpi.com/journal/environsciproc/))  
Footnote 10: https://www.  
IRIDE represents an end-to-end system, consisting of sub-constellations of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites (upstream segment), ground-based operational infrastructure (downstream segment), and services tailored for the Italian Public Administration (service segment). Comprising various sensing instruments and technologies, the IRIDE constellation stands out. It spans from microwave imaging, utilizing synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to optical imaging at various spatial resolutions (from high to medium resolution) and across different frequency ranges, including panchromatic, multispectral, hyperspectral, and infrared bands.  
The current agreement for IRIDE has a total value of EUR 68 million for 22 satellites. Notably, the IRIDE constellation aims to deliver both higher temporal and spatial resolution. By the end of 2025, the constellation is set to have its first twin platforms equipped with multi-spectral sensors, aligning with developments in the Copernicus Sentinel-2 missions. This advancement will enable daily monitoring of each location in Italy with a ground sampling distance (GSD) of approximately 2 m.  
IRIDE aims to provide analytical data supporting the development of commercial applications by startups, small and medium-sized enterprises, and sector industries. The constellation will offer eight macro services encompassing marine and coastal monitoring, air quality, land movements, land cover, hydro-meteor-climate, monitoring of water resources, emergency management, and safety. Additionally, in collaboration with other national and European space systems, IRIDE will support civil protection and other administrations in addressing hydrogeological instability, fires, coastal protection, monitoring critical infrastructures, air quality, and weather conditions.  
Given the promising nature of this mission in terms of potential data offerings to the scientific community, as well as both the public and private sectors, the aims of this work are twofold. Firstly, the aim is to disseminate information within the scientific community regarding the IRIDE program, highlighting key constellation characteristics outlined in the latest ASI technical communications. Secondly, the aim is to propose valuable recommendations for the global applicability of this data, adopting a bottom-up perspective, with the hope that it will contribute to a valuable technological transfer within the geospatial sector and the space economy [17; 18; 19; 20; 21].