With the signature of this agreement, the SatCen continues to be the Entrusted Entity for the implementation of the Copernicus SESA service, which provides geospatial products covering user information needs and requirements related to Union External Action, Security challenges facing the Union and its Member States as well as Monitoring of the implementation of EU Law.
The Application Areas of SESA will address Security of EU Citizens, Humanitarian Aid, Crisis and Conflict, Rule of Law, Transport Safety and Security, Stability and Resilience for Development, Cultural Heritage, International Trade and Economic Diplomacy as well as cutting-edge challenges such as Environmental Compliance, Climate Security or Health Security. These additional Application Areas have been designed based on specific user needs and through Service Evolution activities.
As a key component of the EU Space Programme, Copernicus provides value-added services of strategic interest to the Union and its Member States. SESA is the security strand of the programme’s six services. The others include Atmosphere, Marine, Land, Climate Change and Emergency. All these services support policy makers, businesses, and citizens with real-time data and insights and address a wide range of social, environmental, economic and security challenges. SESA is one of the three components of the Copernicus Security Service (CSS), together with Border Surveillance (CBS) and Maritime Surveillance (CMS).
Since the Copernicus SEA service became operational in May 2017, EU SatCen has provided more than 1000 products to authorised users, analysing thousands of square kilometres in more than 80 different countries. The signing of this Contribution Agreement will enable not only a continuation of the current service, but also the development provision of new capabilities, a considerable enlargement in its scope and capability to serve a wider community of users.