Automating and Decentralising Satellite-based Emergency Mapping

The quantity and diversity of stakeholders in space is increasing and centralised management of their assets is becoming more complex. New technologies in Web3 such as Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) can bridge the communication gap with neutral and automated systems, and distribute currently centralised processes that are inherently decentralised by nature. One of these processes is Satellite-based Emergency Mapping (SEM) for Disaster Response Management (DRM). With automated decision strategies and transparent ledgers, a fairer and more accessible system can be built to handle the increase in stakeholders as well as the increasing number of natural disasters occurring. A DAO also address' the key issue with the current SEM process, such as decreasing the current three days wait, required to produce the necessary processed and analysed data for end users, after the disaster occurs. Moreover, with fleets of satellites belonging to different governmental and private organisations, a specific central authority cannot be identified to manage the process in an efficient and equitable way. The paper discusses the need for a more decentralised and automated system for DRM by presenting evidence of current bottlenecks and lays the foundations of the first DAO for on-orbit assets management and demonstrates which Web3 technologies could further improve SEM in this first phase of charter activation.