Successful launch of a new Copernicus satellite - Main contents
Latest Copernicus satellite launch will improve services for farmers, fishermen and other users of land and sea maps.
In the night from 6 to 7 March, a 5th satellite of Europe's Earth observation programme Copernicus was successfully sent into orbit.
Copernicus already helps save lives at sea, improves our response to natural disasters such as earthquakes, forest fires or floods, and allows farmers to better manage their crops. For example, the European Commission's Emergency Response Coordination Centre activated the EU Copernicus Emergency mapping service for damage assessment grading maps for the most affected areas by the multiple earthquakes in central Italy since August 2016.
With this latest addition, Copernicus can now build up a high-resolution image covering the entire planet in just 5 days, cutting the time needed to image the globe by half. This means improved services for users of land and sea maps such as farmers, builders, fishermen and anyone who needs rapid access to up-to-the-minute data on conditions on the ground.
In line with the Commission's Space Strategy for Europe, the space flagship programme Copernicus delivers benefits to people such as reduced costs of precision farming services, increased productivity of fish farmers thanks to the monitoring of toxic algal blooms and savings for construction companies via a work progress monitoring application.
The free, full and open access to Copernicus data is already providing new opportunities for businesses, who in turn are creating highly qualified jobs in Europe.
Related links
Press release - Space: Latest Copernicus launch will improve services for farmers, fishermen and other users of land and sea maps
Audiovisual material
Video: the Copernicus Programme
Stockshots: EU space programmes
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