Programme

On-site registration

Welcome to UCP 2026!

The Aviation and Drones sessions will gather user feedback on how the EU Space Programme can better support the future needs of aviation and drones, focusing on operational challenges, new emerging requirements and opportunities for future service evolution. 

Participants will explore the current and future trends on Galileo, EGNOS, SATCOM and Copernicus, highlighting applications in GNSS RFI and Earth Observation. 

The session will also address future aviation concepts such as: U-space, Innovative Air Mobility, European Drone Strategy 2.0 and Higher Airspace Operations, with the objective of identifying user needs that can drive future EU Space service developments.

GNSS and EO continue to be invaluable assets, enabling a variety of tools that support infrastructure managers, public authorities, construction companies, and utility operators. Among these space-enabled tools are infrastructure digital twins, which create dynamic virtual models of physical assets and systems. They help infrastructure developers and owners plan, monitor and manage assets, assess risks, and understand how infrastructure interacts with its surroundings.

The session will bring together infrastructure stakeholders and organisations working with EO and GNSS technologies. Speakers will share real-world examples, showing how these services are already being used in practice. The discussion will look at what users need from EO and GNSS services and where remaining challenges lie. The session will combine practical examples with a broader discussion about where EO and GNSS services could bring value across infrastructure markets.

Improving technology creates new opportunities to simplify EO data access, support more efficient workflows and accelerate the delivery of actionable insights to users. Realising the potential of technological advances, such as AI, at all stages of providing data and services is an ongoing challenge for the evolution of all of the Copernicus programme.

The morning session will examine user experiences with the current Copernicus platforms, access mechanisms and processing environments with the aim to assess where they meet user needs, where gaps remain, and what requirements should guide the future evolution of data and service provision in Copernicus.

Building on these foundations, the afternoon session will explore the capacity/tools linking data/information accessible via the Copernicus data and service portals into high performance processing environments. Facilitating efficient linking of data/information to processing will enable “traditional” data processing, but also emerging approaches to AI-enabled EO data access and processing, including foundation models, EO AI agents and digital assistants capable of supporting users throughout the data discovery, analysis and decision-making workflow. Discussions will examine how these capabilities can enhance the discovery, access and use of EO data, while identifying priorities for a more connected, accessible and future-ready European EO data ecosystem.

This half-day session brings together representatives from the mining industry alongside collaborators working at the intersection of Earth observation (EO) and raw-materials extraction. Through concrete use case demonstrations, speakers will explore how satellite-based monitoring and analysis support various applications in the mining sector, including risk assessment and valorisation of mining waste deposits. Attention will also be given to the business case for the adoption of these technologies.

The session will also open a dialogue on user needs for EO data and services within the sector, surfacing the practical requirements, data gaps, and integration challenges that mining operators face when adopting EO-based solutions. Attendees can expect a mix of real-world use cases and forward-looking discussion, offering insight into both the current state of EO adoption in mining and the pathways to scaling its use further.

The Session on Fisheries and Aquaculture will focus on exploring the needs along the value chain of the sector in relation to the services and products that may benefit from the use of EU Space data together with other services (e.g. Copernicus/EMODnet, Galileo and EGNOS) for fishing and farming related operations. The main objective of the session is to gather relevant stakeholders’ feedback, needs, and requirements so that to define an action plan for the following 2 years to cover the gaps identified.

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