Date: March 19, 2025, 10:30-12:00 CET
Title: Understanding the Domino Architecture – A New Era of Earth Observation
Speakers: Jean-François Vinuesa (ADS), Daniel Novak (ADS), Michael Anranter (Oikoplus)
Hosts: Thomas Stollenwerk (Oikoplus), Michael Anranter (Oikoplus)
The first session of the Domino-E webinar series commenced with a thorough exploration of the history, challenges, and innovations in Earth Observation (EO). The webinar established the foundation for comprehending the Domino Architecture, a modular and federated approach to overseeing satellite ground segments.
A Century of Earth Observation & Earth Observation Mission Tasking
Michael Anranter commenced the session by providing a historical overview of the development of EO, from the 19th-century balloon photography of Félix Nádar to the present-day AI-powered satellite constellations. This retrospective analysis provided the necessary context for the necessity of more efficient, interoperable, and scalable EO systems, which are required to meet the needs of governments, SMEs, and commercial entities.
A key point that emerged was the current challenges surrounding the delivery of EO data. Typically, from the moment a user submits a request for data, to the moment it is delivered, the cycle takes at least 2–3 hours under optimal conditions. Michael Anranter provided a visual representation of this “tasking loop” and the intricacies of legacy systems that Domino aims to streamline.
Introducing the Domino Architecture
Jean-François Vinuesa provided a detailed explanation of the Domino architecture — a modular, standardised ground segment approach. He introduced the concept of Dominoes: independent, interoperable subsystems responsible for specific services within the EO ground segment.
These Dominoes are cloud-deployable, independently maintainable, and allow for dynamic integration of mission-specific services without disrupting the full system.
Jean-François also outlined multiple benefits for system integrators and clients:
- Faster integration and delivery
- Multi-mission adaptability
- Increased trust and traceability
- Easier collaboration and maintenance
- Clear separation of responsibility between domino providers and integrators
In Conversation with Daniel Novak: EO-architecture to last 10-15 years
Daniel Novak reflected on his leadership of the Domino-X initiative, highlighting its roots in ESA’s Copernicus programme and its objective to standardise the architecture of EO ground segments across missions. He further emphasised the Domino approach’s ability to facilitate speed, industrial collaboration and long-term competitiveness, which are especially important for Europe’s strategic independence in EO.
He also highlighted the active adoption of the product in European defence programmes, as well as the growing interest from agencies and subsystem providers.
Listen to the full interview with Daniel Novak here:
The interview closed with reflections on:
- The need for governance models to maintain standard interfaces
- Encouragement for providers to align legacy systems with Domino standards
- Opportunities for open-source collaboration (Domino specs on Apache license)
Daniel expressed confidence that the architecture will form the basis of future EO systems for the next 10–15 years, with Domino-E helping to mature and implement this vision.
Sneak Peek into Session 2: Developing within Domino: Examples from Domino-E
In the second session of the Domino webinar series, we will present real-world applications developed to facilitate the Domino architecture. These include:
- Multi-satellite coverage optimisation
- Smart antenna scheduling
- Natural language user interfaces
➡️ Secure your spot now: Domino-E: Your Access to Earth Observation – Session #2 Tickets, Tue, Mar 25, 2025 at 10:30 AM | Eventbrite
Resources
Domino-E Webinar Session #1 – Full Video: https://youtu.be/Gx666_FIItc
Domino-E Webinar Session #1 – Full Presentation: https://domino-e.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Full-presentation_Session-1.pdf