Royal Center for Remote Sensing

The Royal Center for Remote Sensing (CRTS) is a space agency responsible for the Moroccan space program. Created by decree in December 1989 and located in Rabat, CRTS has been mandated to promote the use and development of remote sensing applications in Morocco. CRTS coordinates and implements the national remote sensing program in collaboration with ministerial departments, private operators, and Moroccan universities.

CRTS is the official distributor in Morocco of satellite images from Spot, Landsat, ERS, and the NOAA.

Internationally CRTS activities are part of cooperative and partnership relations with several national and international institutions and agencies. It actively participates in the work of the COPUOS.

Activity areas
Since its inception, CRTS has implemented several projects integrating remote sensing and GIS to meet user needs in the inventory and natural resource management, environmental protection, and land-use planning. These projects align with national development programs and are carried out in various forms (study contracts, pilot projects, national development projects, etc.). The applications developed provide strategic support to decision-makers and cover several areas:


 * Agriculture
 * Forestry and rangelands
 * Land use, land planning, and urbanism
 * Coastal areas, oceanography, and fishery resources
 * Geographic information management
 * Water resources – Desertification.

Space program
The Royal Center for Remote Sensing, in collaboration with the Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Technical University of Berlin, launched a micro Earth observation satellite as part of the TUBSAT program, Maroc-TUBSAT, on 2001. This satellite has reached the end of its life.