[Podcast] Copernicus: Europe and the World from Space

April 3, 2014. At 11 pm, a rocket lifts off from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. On board: a radar satellite dedicated to observing the surface of our planet. It is the first instrument from Copernicus, the European Earth observation program, which was launched 16 years ago.

Copernicus is mobilized in six main areas: Earth observation, sea observation, atmospheric studies, climate change research, and emergency and security missions. European satellites are used, for example, to map forest fires or to monitor borders.

In all, eight satellites are in orbit hundreds of kilometers above our heads. Copernicus used it to collect information about our planet. These spacecraft are called “guards”. Each of them has a very specific job.

The Sentinel1 satellite monitors floods, marine traffic, and earthquakes day and night. Sentinel3 makes it possible to measure the temperature at the Earth’s surface as well as the thickness of ice floes and glaciers.

But the Eight Guardians are not alone. Twenty European satellites from other programs complete the machines of Copernicus, these satellites of our blue planet. These other space missions provide additional data to those of the Sentinels, by studying the weather, for example.

Copernicus’ great task remains to measure climate change and its consequences. This is one of the program’s priorities. We learned that the summer of 2022 was the hottest on record in Europe thanks to data from Copernicus. Satellites are also used to study biodiversity. In Costa Rica, sensitive areas have been identified with precipitation and temperature readings. All this to understand the future evolution of flora and fauna in this tropical country, which lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

There are more than 700,000 users of Copernicus services around the world. The program provides free data. This means that citizens or companies have access to information from satellites. The famous Heineken beer brand has not been denied its use. In a small town in the Netherlands, the company interpreted spatial data to make projections of the area’s water reserves. A necessary resource for future beer brewing.

there European Commission program coordinates. I’European Space Agency (ESA) is concerned with infrastructures in space, which are complemented by facilities on Earth. It is not an EU institution. It is an intergovernmental agency of 19 member states of the European Union, including France, as well as Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Not all European space politics can be summed up in Copernicus. The European space program includes, for example, a secure communications service for military operations. Europeans also developed the Galileo system, which is the equivalent of the famous American GPS. The European Union is investing €14.9 billion in space over the period 2021-2027. Of which 5.4 billion euros is allocated to Copernicus.

Voice credit: European Space Agency ESA/CNES/Arianespace

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