To address the ever increasing demand of up-to-date information about the environment, VITO has proposed the Pegasus concept in 2000. It has been supported by the Flemish government, the Belgian Space Policy and the European Space Agency.

The Pegasus system will offer high resolution aerial imagery in near real time for large scale mapping and crisis monitoring. It's main components are

• the Mercator solar High Altitude Long Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
• the MEDUSA wide swath high resoltuin digital camera
• the Ground Control Station
• the VITO Central Data Processing Center