A multibillion-dollar Earth observation system designed to provide a broad stream of satellite data on environmental phenomena should be wide-open for use by Europe's militaries, one of the program's sponsors said Sept. 16. Guenter Verheugen, vice president of the European Commission, the executive arm of the 27-nation European Union, said the recently named Kopernikus network, formerly called Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), should be considered as a dual-use resource from the start. "I want to have users from the military field," Verheugen said here during the Forum GMES 2008 conference held to discuss Kopernikus applications. "I have no hesitation about this. I want them. It is a dual-use project."
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