URSI France 2017 workshop on radio science for humanity: Journees scientifiques URSI-France 2017 radiosciences au service de l'humanité (part 2): Copernicus, a major European cooperation program: From the early concept to operational services

The Copernicus program (previously known as GMES: Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) is a major European undertaking for the continuous monitoring the Earth system. Copernicus is one of the two pillars — together with the Galileo program — of the cooperation between the European Union (EU), the European Space Agency (ESA), and their Member States. This paper describes the implementation evolution of Copernicus, from the initial proposal elaborated in May 1998 until 2017, including the operational services available, the space component, and the agreed governance for the management of this ambitious program. This paper is based on [1].