Based on a cooperative agreement, ESA has been delivering data from ALOS — Japan's four-ton Earth Observation satellite — to users across Europe and Africa since the satellite's launch three years ago. And now, an award of appreciation has been given to ESA for the agency's efforts by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Dr. Yasushi Horikawa, Executive Director of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), wrote to ESA to express appreciation for its "significant contribution over the last 8 years in the planning, implementation, and operation of the ALOS Data Node framework." The agreement between the two space agencies puts ESA in charge of the ALOS European Data Node (ADEN), delivering the satellite’s data to scientific and operational users across Europe and Africa.

Within the ADEN network, ESA, JAXA, and other partners cooperate to produce a wide range of environmental datasets. Applications include the domains of forestry, global carbon monitoring, oceanography, sea-ice monitoring, agriculture and vegetation monitoring, topography and disaster mitigation. ALOS (Advanced Land Observing Satellite), launched on January 24, 2006, from the Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan, was initially intended to operate for three years. However, given the overall standing of the satellite and the quality data it is delivering, JAXA has extended its mission until 2010 and has begun preparations for an additional extension until 2013. ESA is supporting ALOS as a 'Third Party Mission', which means ESA uses its multi-mission European ground infrastructure and expertise to acquire, process, and distribute data from the satellite to its wide user community. To date, ESA has delivered ALOS data to more than 270 research and application projects, serving some 500 users.