New satellites to spur Earth observation will soon reinforce the performance of the GMES earth observation system (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security).
An agreement, signed in Brussels today by Heinz Zourek, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry Policy and the European Space Agency (ESA) Director General, Jean-Jacques Dordain, establishes the allocation of a European Commission (EC) budget of €624 million to ESA as a contribution to the implementation of the GMES Space Component (GSC).
Based on the European Space Policy, for GMES in particular, the EU takes the lead in identifying and bringing together user needs and in aggregating the political will in support of wider policy objectives. It will ensure the availability and continuity of operational services supporting its policies. It contributes to the development, deployment and operation of corresponding European space infrastructure, while making maximum use of existing and planned assets available to Europe, including those of EUMETSAT.
Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industry policy said: "Improved GMES capabilities are of paramount importance for our environment and security policies. I welcome today’s agreement, because citizens have a right to live safe and to have reliable information on the environment. Moreover, the agreement opens up enormous opportunities for our industry, including Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises."
ESA’s role within GMES is to implement the dedicated GMES Space Component, which involves developing the Sentinel satellite series and their ground segment and to coordinate access to data stemming from the Sentinels and from other missions which contribute to fulfilling of the GMES service requirements.
The EC contribution will be provided in two stages: €419 million for Segment 1 and €205 million for Segment 2 of the GSC programme. Transfer for Segment 2 will be further submitted to ESA’s Ministerial Council in November 2008.
This agreement, together with the financial contributions from ESA Member States, will enable ESA to develop and launch the first three Sentinel satellites (Sentinel-1, -2 and -3). Sentinel-1 is an all-weather, day-and-night radar imaging satellite mission for land and ocean services; Sentinel-2 is a high-resolution optical imaging mission for land services; Sentinel-3 is for a global ocean and land monitoring mission which includes an altimetry instrument package.
For the press release: see Europa website
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