Short answers, pulled from the story.
The programme began on the 19th of May 1998 under the name GMES which stands for Global Monitoring for Environmental Security. It was officially rebranded to Copernicus in December 2012 following a Framework Agreement signed between the Commission and ESA in February 2004.
Sentinel-1A launched on the 3rd of April 2014 while Sentinel-2A arrived on the 23rd of June 2015 with high-resolution optical imaging capabilities down to 10 meters. Sentinel-4A became operational on the 1st of July 2025 as Europe's first hyperspectral sounding mission in geostationary orbit.
Costs from 1998 to 2020 reached an estimated €6.7 billion total with around €4.3 billion spent between 2014 and 2020 shared between the EU and ESA. The European Commission contributed 67% while ESA provided 33% of these funds.
The Emergency Management Service became operational on the 1st of April 2012 to handle natural disasters and humanitarian crises. Marine Environment Monitoring entered service on the 1st of May 2015 to oversee maritime security and oil spills.
Third country participation occurs through agreements where countries contribute to the budget or agree to exchange data with the program. A new data gateway called Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem launched in January 2023 to provide API-s for data access including OData, STAC, and openEO standards.