Starion Luxembourg is launching LUX-SAFEPLACE crisis response platform to reinforce national disaster resilience

Due to dense urban development and climate change, Luxembourg is particularly vulnerable to river flooding. At the same time, flooding caused by sudden and extreme rainfall is becoming more frequent in urban areas like Luxembourg City. The catastrophic events of July 2021 served as a turning point, demonstrating how rapidly rising waters can isolate populations and overwhelm traditional emergency response. With thousands of households affected and the window for safe evacuation shrinking during flash events, the need for advanced, real-time crisis management is imperative.

With the support of the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA), Starion is currently working on an extension of SAFEPLACE, a flexible digital platform designed to facilitate crisis management during pre- and post-crisis phases. SAFEPLACE functions by aggregating data from diverse data sources (such as public and private Earth Observation data, Internet of Things (IoT sensors), and advanced communication technologies) and using Artificial Intelligence to translate this raw data into actionable situational awareness.

This new national extension, known as LUX-SAFEPLACE, is funded through ESA’s European Resilience from Space Programme Element 2 (formerly ESA’s Civil Security from Space Programme) and will focus specifically on calibrating these space-enabled technologies to the topographical and urban particularities of the Grand Duchy.

Enhancing National crisis response capabilities

"Better forecasting and real-time support are essential to manage the impact of flooding events and of other environmental, industrial or humanitarian crises," said Marc Serres, CEO of the Luxembourg Space Agency. “Space data can provide valuable insights in this respect, which is why we believe the SAFEPLACE platform holds great promise to centralise any data and provide valuable information to manage crises. Through this new contract, we are pleased that the unique expertise of key Luxembourg companies will now bring sustainable added value to the important ESA programme to enhance crisis management at European scale.” He continued.

The technical scope of the platform integrates predictive modelling to generate water-level "nowcasts" and expected flood spreads, which directly inform critical decisions regarding evacuation routes and targeted public warnings.

Furthermore, the platform will address the needs of various national stakeholders in Luxembourg including, among others, The Directorate of Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, the Water Management Administration (AGE) and the Grand-Ducal Fire and Rescue Corps (CGDIS). Cross-border demonstrations in Belgium and Spain are already planned, extending Luxembourg's space capabilities into a more international crisis management ecosystem.

Fostering a sovereign technical ecosystem

Serving as a proof of concept for Space Resilience Nodes, the LUX-SAFEPLACE platform provides a specialised user segment designed for mandated public protection and disaster response agencies. This system enables stakeholders to gain rapid access to a suite of space-enabled solutions for crisis management.

The project draws on a deep well of domestic expertise to ensure technical sovereignty. While Starion leads the platform elaboration, RSS-Hydro provides the predictive flood modeling systems, and HITEC Luxembourg contributes to the mobile communication hub capability. To ensure data security and rapid processing, Clarence provides a sovereign cloud interface to high-performance computing, while FACTiven manages authentication and traceability.

The current definition phase will culminate in a comprehensive demonstration to showcase the integration of these partner technologies, allowing national stakeholders to provide feedback that will shape the final operational rollout. Besides protecting local populations from the increasing threat of rapid-onset flooding, this initiative establishes a scalable model for crisis resilience across Europe.