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)