EUMETSAT Council makes progress towards EPS-SG programme approval
EUMETSAT Council makes progress towards EPS-SG programme approval and opens Jason-CS ocean altimetry programme for subscription
The 82nd meeting of the EUMETSAT Council took place in Darmstadt, Germany, on 26 November.
02 November 2020
28 November 2014
The meeting achieved progress in the approval process for the EUMETSAT Polar System Second Generation (EPS-SG) programme: 86.86 % of the financial envelope of the programme is now covered by committed contributions from Member States.
Expecting that all Member States will have completed their national approval process by June 2015 at the latest, the Council authorised the Director-General, Alain Ratier, to start the programme activities when 95% of the financial envelope is secured.
EPS-SG is the mandatory programme required to deliver observations from polar orbit in the 2021-2042 timeframe. The EPS-SG system will improve and expand the observation capabilities of the first generation EPS, as necessary to further improve operational weather forecasting up to 10 days ahead.
The Council also opened the Jason Continuity of Service (Jason-CS) Optional Programme for subscription after agreeing the Programme Proposal and other documents establishing the legal framework for that programme.
The Jason-CS programme constitutes EUMETSAT’s contribution to the Copernicus Sentinel-6 mission to be developed and implemented through a partnership between the EU, ESA, EUMETSAT and the United States (NOAA). The mission will extend until 2030 the climate record of sea level measurements accumulated since 1992 by the Topex-Poseidon, Jason, Jason-2 and Jason-3 missions. It will also support the development of operational oceanography and seasonal forecasts in Europe.
