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Definitions For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1) ‘spacecraft’ means an orbiting object designed to perform a specific function or mission, such as communications, navigation or Earth observation, including satellites, launcher upper stages, and a re-entry vehicle; a spacecraft that can no longer fulfil its intended mission is considered non-functional; spacecraft in reserve or standby modes awaiting possible reactivation are considered functional;

(2) ‘space object’ means any man-made object in outer space;

(3) ‘near-Earth objects’ or ‘NEO’ means natural objects in the solar system which are approaching the Earth;

(4) ‘space debris’ means any space object including spacecraft or fragments and elements thereof in Earth’s orbit or re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, that are non-functional or no longer serve any specific purpose, including parts of rockets or artificial satellites, or inactive artificial satellites;

(5) ‘space weather events’ or ‘SWE’ means naturally occurring variations in the space environment at the Sun and around the Earth, including solar flares, solar energetic particles, variations in the solar wind, coronal mass ejections, geomagnetic storms and dynamics, radiation storms and ionospheric disturbances, potentially impacting Earth and space-based infrastructures;

(6) ‘space situational awareness’ or ‘SSA’ means a holistic approach, including comprehensive knowledge and understanding, of the main space hazards, encompassing collision between space objects, fragmentation and re-entry of space objects into the atmosphere, space weather events, and near-Earth objects;

(7) ‘space surveillance and tracking system’ or ‘SST system’ means a network of ground-based and space-based sensors capable of surveying and tracking space objects, together with processing capabilities aiming to provide data, information and services on space objects that orbit around the Earth;

(8) ‘SST sensor’ means a device or a combination of devices, such as ground-based or space-based radars, lasers and telescopes, which is able to perform space surveillance or tracking and that can measure physical parameters related to space objects, such as size, location and velocity;

(9) ‘SST data’ means physical parameters of space objects, including space debris, acquired by SST sensors, or orbital parameters of space objects derived from SST sensors’ observations in the framework of the SST sub-component;

(10) ‘SST information’ means processed SST data which are readily meaningful to the recipient;

(11) ‘return link’ means a functional capacity of the Galileo search and rescue support (SAR) service; the Galileo SAR service will contribute to the global monitoring service of aircraft, as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO);

(12) ‘Copernicus Sentinels’ means the Copernicus dedicated satellites, spacecraft or spacecraft payloads for space-based Earth observation;

(13) ‘Copernicus data’ means data provided by the Copernicus Sentinels, including their metadata;

(14) ‘Copernicus third-party data and information’ means spatial data and information licensed or made available for use under Copernicus which originate from sources other than the Copernicus Sentinels;

(15) ‘Copernicus in-situ data’ means observation data from ground-based, seaborne or airborne sensors, as well as reference and ancillary data licensed or provided for use in Copernicus;

(16) ‘Copernicus information’ means information generated by the Copernicus Services following processing or modelling, including their metadata;

(17) ‘Copernicus Participating States’ means third countries which contribute financially and participate in Copernicus under the terms of an international agreement concluded with the Union;

(18) ‘Copernicus core users’ means the Union institutions and bodies and European, national, or regional public bodies in the Union or Copernicus Participating States entrusted with a public service mission for the definition, implementation, enforcement or monitoring of civilian public policies, such as environmental, civil protection, safety, including safety of infrastructure, or security policies, which benefit from Copernicus data and Copernicus information and have the additional role of driving the evolution of Copernicus;

(19) ‘other Copernicus users’ means research and education organisations, commercial and private bodies, charities, non-governmental organisations and international organisations, which benefit from Copernicus data and Copernicus information;

(20) ‘Copernicus users’ means Copernicus core users and other Copernicus users;

(21) ‘Copernicus Services’ means value-added services of general and common interest to the Union and the Member States, which are financed by the Programme and which transform Earth observation data, Copernicus in-situ data and other ancillary data into processed, aggregated and interpreted information tailored to the needs of Copernicus users;

(22) ‘GOVSATCOM user’ means a public authority, a body entrusted with the exercise of public authority, an international organisation or a natural or legal person, duly authorised and entrusted with tasks relating to the supervision and management of' security-critical missions, operations and infrastructures;

(23) ‘GOVSATCOM Hub’ means an operational centre the main function of which is to link, in a secure manner, the GOVSATCOM users to the providers of GOVSATCOM capacity and services and thereby optimise the supply and demand at any given moment;

(24) ‘GOVSATCOM use-case’ means an operational scenario in a particular environment in which GOVSATCOM services are required;

(25) ‘EU classified information’ or ‘EUCI’ means any information or material designated by an EU security classification, the unauthorised disclosure of which could cause varying degrees of prejudice to the interests of the Union or of one or more of the Member States;

(26) ‘sensitive non-classified information’ means non-classified information within the meaning of Article 9 of Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2015/443 , under which an obligation to protect sensitive non-classified information applies solely to the Commission and to Union agencies and bodies obliged by law to apply the security rules of the Commission;

(27) ‘blending operation’ means actions supported by the Union budget, including within blending facilities pursuant to Article 2(6) of the Financial Regulation, combining non-repayable forms of support or financial instruments or budgetary guarantees from the Union budget with repayable forms of support from development or other public finance institutions, as well as from commercial finance institutions and investors;

(28) ‘legal entity’ means a natural person, or a legal person created and recognised as such under Union, national, or international law, which has legal personality and capacity to act in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity which does not have legal personality as referred to in point (c) of Article 197(2) of the Financial Regulation;

(29) ‘fiduciary entity’ means a legal entity that is independent from the Commission or a third party and that receives data from the Commission or that third party for the purpose of safe storage and treatment of those data.