After Envisat, what?

The problem with Europe losing Envisat is that their plans for what to do next in Earth observation are all set - and all screwed up, at the same time.

Europe loses sight of Earth


"But the European Commission does not want to allocate €5.8 billion of its 2014–20 budget to the programme that would operate the satellites, the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES). Instead, the commission says, member states should make additional contributions to finance the programme — something that is unlikely to happen in the current fiscal climate (see Nature 480,19–20; 2011). ESA, meanwhile, says that it will not launch the first Sentinel without being certain that its operating costs will be covered."
...

"Not everyone believes that the situation poses a significant problem for Earth observation. Other satellites, such as NASA’s Aqua and Terra missions, can replace Envisat’s capabilities, says Ranga Myneni, an environmental scientist at Boston University in Massachusetts. Indeed, satellites launched by NASA freely provide their data in formats preferred by many scientists, and are thus more widely used than Envisat."

But Terra and Aqua are 12 and 10 years old respectively, and their
instruments are degrading and breaking down, too.

Not good.