In a landmark agreement for Europe's Copernicus programme, the European Commission and ESA have signed an agreement of over €3 billion to manage and implement the Copernicus 'space component' between 2014 and 2021.

The Multiannual Financial Framework is a seven-year plan for the EU's budget that includes the provision of about €4.3 billion for the Copernicus environment monitoring programme for the period 2014-20.

Copernicus is set to make a step change in the way we care for the planet by providing reliable, timely and accurate services to manage the environment, understand and mitigate the effects of climate change and help respond to crises.

The success of the programme relies on the provision of robust data, predominately from a fleet of Earth observation satellites called Sentinel, and supplemented by data from Member States' satellites.