The Copernicus program is the European Union’s civilian program for monitoring the Earth, the environment and security using satellites, ground-based monitoring and their combinations. The program is currently the world’s largest Earth and environmental observation program. It provides satellite imagery and thematic services focused on specific components of the environment. The data of the program are open and freely available to all users and are widely used at all levels of management not only in the field of environment, but also in agriculture, forestry, research and other sectors.

The program is coordinated and managed by the European Commission in cooperation with the Member States, the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the European Environment Agencies (EEA), Mercator Ocean, EU Joint Research Center (JRC) and other agencies.

The Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports of the Slovak Republic is responsible for the agenda of the Copernicus program in Slovakia. The Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic ensures cooperation with the European Commission (EC) and its working groups Copernicus Committee, Copernicus User Forum and Copernicus security board. It also ensures the coordination of activities related to the program in Slovakia, distribution of information, organization of events, distribution and processing of program data. Ministry of Education primarily ensures the agenda of cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA), which together with other organizations provides the space segment of the Copernicus program. To ensure the activities of the Copernicus program, a National Working Group for Copernicus was established at the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic. For comprehensive provision of other activities related to space and cooperation with ESA, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Slovak Republic established the Commission for Space Activities in the Slovak Republic.

 

Commission for space activities in the Slovak Republic

The Commission for Space Activities in the Slovak Republic is a commission established by the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports of the Slovak Republic with the primary goal of developing space activities in Slovakia and cooperation with ESA. The Commission is composed of representatives of the relevant ministries and has two advisory bodies. The Scientific Council, which is composed of representatives of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and relevant universities, and the Business Chamber, which covers business entities. More information about the Commission for Space Activities in the Slovak Republic can be found on the Slovak Space Portal.

 

National Working Group for Copernicus

The National Working Group for Copernicus is an inter-ministerial working group established by the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic composed of representatives of ministries and organizations directly involved and using the data of the Coperniucus program. The working group disseminates information on the status of the program, the possibilities of using the program data and the planned activities.