One of Europe's flagship space projects looks as though it is going to proceed with the UK continuing to be a bit-part player, scientists and engineers fear. The Kopernikus programme is dedicated to acquiring and collating satellite data on the health of the planet.
Europe's flagship Kopernikus mission faces potential delays. An ambitious European proposal to launch an orbiting Earth-monitoring system called Kopernikus is facing possible delays to the launches of its component satellites after Italy and France demanded that costs be cut. A flurry of negotiations is under way to try to hammer out a compromise before a crucial meeting of the European Space Agency (ESA) from 25 to 26 November, at which the future of the project will be decided.