As well as CO2-sensing satellites, the expanded Copernicus programme will develop five other systems to measure a range of Earth variables, from the extent of Arctic sea-ice to the temperature of the global land surface.
The impressive backing for these new Earth observing spacecraft was driven largely by Germany, which pledged €518m (£444m) of the total €1.8bn. Its industry will now get the bulk of the R&D contracts.
"Earth observation is the cornerstone of German space policy," said Thomas Jarzombek, from the nation's Economic Affairs Ministry.
"People are more and more interested in climate change and what we can do to protect ourselves against it. Information is key because we can only really act against climate change if we understand what it going on. Copernicus gives us better data," he told BBC News.
It should be stated that Copernicus is a joint venture between Esa and the EU, with the latter covering 70% of the overall costs. Brussels' contribution to the expansion programme has yet to be determined.
"There is today about €6bn (£5.1bn) foreseen as part of the [EU] budget for space. And we look forward to completing the constellation with the recurring [satellites] which are to be paid for by the EU along with, of course, their operation," explained Esa EO director, Josef Aschbacher.
Across the entire Space19+ budget request, the top contributing countries were:
Germany - €3.3bn (£2.8bn), which is a 23% share of the total budget
France - €2.7bn (£2.3bn), which is an 18.5% share
Italy - €2.3bn (£1.8bn), which is 16%
UK - €1.6bn (£1.4bn), which is 11.5%
The UK's subscription after this meeting will rise from €355m (£304m) per year to €440m (£377m) per year.
Graham Peters, the chair of the trade association UKSpace sees this as a positive outcome.
"It gives us a fantastic platform upon which we can now build the national space programme to develop new sovereign capabilities and to start collaborating more globally to drive exports," he said.
The impressive backing for these new Earth observing spacecraft was driven largely by Germany, which pledged €518m (£444m) of the total €1.8bn. Its industry will now get the bulk of the R&D contracts.
"Earth observation is the cornerstone of German space policy," said Thomas Jarzombek, from the nation's Economic Affairs Ministry.
"People are more and more interested in climate change and what we can do to protect ourselves against it. Information is key because we can only really act against climate change if we understand what it going on. Copernicus gives us better data," he told BBC News.
It should be stated that Copernicus is a joint venture between Esa and the EU, with the latter covering 70% of the overall costs. Brussels' contribution to the expansion programme has yet to be determined.
"There is today about €6bn (£5.1bn) foreseen as part of the [EU] budget for space. And we look forward to completing the constellation with the recurring [satellites] which are to be paid for by the EU along with, of course, their operation," explained Esa EO director, Josef Aschbacher.
Across the entire Space19+ budget request, the top contributing countries were:
Germany - €3.3bn (£2.8bn), which is a 23% share of the total budget
France - €2.7bn (£2.3bn), which is an 18.5% share
Italy - €2.3bn (£1.8bn), which is 16%
UK - €1.6bn (£1.4bn), which is 11.5%
The UK's subscription after this meeting will rise from €355m (£304m) per year to €440m (£377m) per year.
Graham Peters, the chair of the trade association UKSpace sees this as a positive outcome.
"It gives us a fantastic platform upon which we can now build the national space programme to develop new sovereign capabilities and to start collaborating more globally to drive exports," he said.
