The Copernicus Programme, which was established by Regulation (EU) No 377/2014, is a civil, user driven programme, building on the existing national and European capacities, with the overarching operational objective to provide accurate and reliable information in the field of the environment and security, tailored to the needs of users and supporting other Union policies, more specifically relating to the internal market, transport, environment, energy, civil protection and civil security, cooperation with third countries and humanitarian aid.

Pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 377/2014, Copernicus consists of three components, including a space component the purpose of which is to ensure sustainable space-borne observations for the following service areas: atmosphere monitoring, marine environment monitoring, land monitoring, climate change, emergency management and security. The Commission has the overall responsibility for Copernicus and coordinates its different components.

The Technical specifications for the Copernicus Space component are necessary to establish a baseline for the implementation and evolution of the space component as part of the governance of Copernicus.

The Technical specifications for the Copernicus space component should address aspects such as completion and operation of dedicated missions, reception, processing, archiving and dissemination of data, provision, archiving and dissemination of contributing mission data complementing dedicated mission data, and the process to ensure the evolution of the system.

The development of the Copernicus Space Component started under the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) Space Component Programme which includes funding from European Space Agency (ESA) and the Commission. The technical specifications for the Copernicus space component should cover the entire Space Component, with a specific focus on the activities funded under Regulation (EU) No 377/2014.

The Copernicus Space Component as a whole is funded through multiple agreements. These include the agreements concluded under the ESA GMES Space Component Programme, the Copernicus Agreement, the Jason-CS and Jason-3 Optional Programme of European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). Activities funded under the ESA GMES Space Component Programme include the development of the Sentinel-1, -2, and -3 satellite A and B units, Sentinel-5p, Sentinel-4 A and B units and the Sentinel-5, -6 A units. Sentinel-6 is co-funded by EUMETSAT under the EUMETSAT optional Jason-CS programme.

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Copernicus Committee,