LSTM is a next generation ESA mission within the Copernicus program to complement Sentinel observation capabilities with high spatio-temporal resolution TIR (Thermal Infrared) observations over land and coastal regions in support of agriculture management services,and possibly a range of additional applications and services. The primary objective is to enable monitoring the evapotranspiration (ET) rate at European field scale by capturing the variability of Land Surface Temperature (LST) (and hence derived ET) allowing more robust estimates of field-scale water productivity. 

Vega (Vettore Europeo di Generazione Avanzata - European Advanced Generation Carrier) is an expendable launch system developed for Arianespace jointly by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the European Space Agency (ESA). Italy is the leading contributor to the Vega program of ESA; other participants include France, Belgium, Spain, The Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden. ^{1) 2) 3) 4)}

The program began in 1998, it is managed jointly by an IPT (Integrated Project Team) composed of staff from ESA, ASI and CNES. The industrial consortium for the construction of the launcher is lead by the prime contractor ELV S.p.A. of Italy.

TARANIS is a CNES microsatellite mission, proposed by LPCE (Laboratoire de Physique et de Chimie de l'Environnement), and CEA (Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique) of France in collaboration with institutions from USA, Denmark, Japan, the Czech Republic and Poland. The TARANIS mission is devoted to the study of transient event energetic mechanisms that generate transient luminous emissions and gamma ray flashes in the terrestrial atmosphere above the thunderstorm areas. These emissions are a manifestation of a coupling between atmosphere, ionosphere and magnetosphere via intense transitory processes implying avalanching relativistic electrons with energies up to 30 MeV.

Note: In ancient mythology, TARANIS was the Gallic god of thunder and lightning.

Ingenio, Spanish for “ingenuity”, is an optical high-resolution imaging mission of Spain - the flagship mission of the Spanish Space Strategic Plan 2007-2011. The mission is devoted to providing high resolution multispectral land optical images to different Spanish civil, institutional and government users, and potentially to other European users in the framework of Copernicus (formerly GMES) and GEOSS. The overall mission objective is to provide information for applications in cartography, land use, urban management, water management, environmental monitoring, risk management and security. The requirements call for panchromatic imagery of 2.5 m and multispectral imagery of 10 m resolution. ^1) 2)

Jason-CS is the second component of the hybrid solution (Jason-3 + Jason-CS) agreed to in 2009. Jason-CS will ensure continuity with Jason-3 to guarantee adequate overlap with Jason-3. At least two satellites with a 7 years lifetime each (5 years + 2 years consumables) are planned to give time before new technologies such as swath interferometry (SWOT mission) can be considered as operational. ^1) 2)

The Jason-CS satellite will carry a radar altimeter package to continue the high-precision, low-inclination altimetry missions of Jason-2 and -3. It will complement the high-inclination measurements on Sentinel-3 to obtain high-precision global sea-surface topography for the marine and climate user community.

Sentinel-5P (or S-5P, or S5P) is an approved LEO pre-operational mission within the European GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) program — a collaborative effort of ESA and NSO (Netherlands Space Office). The goal is to fill the gap between the current atmospheric monitoring instruments SCIAMACHY on ESA's Envisat satellite and OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) carried on NASA's Aura mission, as these instruments come to the end of their lifetimes, and the launch of the Sentinel-5 mission is planned for the timeframe 2020. Note: The Envisat mission operations ended on May 9, 2012. ^{1) 2) 3) 4)}

The Sentinel-4 (S-4) mission within the context of Copernicus represents the geostationary component of European (EC, ESA) operational atmospheric composition monitoring missions.

In December 2007, the GMES Atmospheric Service Implementation Group of the EC (European Commission), issued its preliminary recommendations for the development of the GMES Space Segment operational capabilities in regard of atmospheric missions. In particular, it recommended implementing the Sentinel-4 mission as a UVN (UV/Visible/Near-infrared) sounder to be deployed on the two MTG Sounding (MTG-S) satellites. ^{1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)}

Table 1: Copernicus is the new name of the former GMES program ⁷⁾

Sentinel-5P (or S-5P, or S5P) is an approved LEO pre-operational mission within the European GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) program — a collaborative effort of ESA and NSO (Netherlands Space Office). The goal is to fill the gap between the current atmospheric monitoring instruments SCIAMACHY on ESA's Envisat satellite and OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) carried on NASA's Aura mission, as these instruments come to the end of their lifetimes, and the launch of the Sentinel-5 mission is planned for the timeframe 2020. Note: The Envisat mission operations ended on May 9, 2012. ^{1) 2) 3) 4)}

The Sentinel-3 (S3) mission of ESA and the EC is one of the elements of the GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) program, which responds to the requirements for operational and near-real-time monitoring of ocean, land and ice surfaces over a period of 20 years. The topography element of this mission will serve primarily the marine operational users but will also allow the monitoring of sea ice and land ice, as well as inland water surfaces, using novel observation techniques.The Sentinel-3 mission is designed as a constellation of two identical polar orbiting satellites, separated by 180º, for the provision of long-term operational marine and land monitoring services. The operational character of this mission implies a high level of availability of the data products and fast delivery time, which have been important design drivers for the mission. ^{1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14)}

The Sentinel-3 program represents a series of operational spacecraft over the envisioned service period to guarantee access to an uninterrupted flow of robust global data products.