In 1998, Dr Laurence Eymard invited Dr Estelle Obligis to work on the Environmental Satellite (ENVISAT) mission in her remote sensing and atmospheric science lab in Paris, France. What Obligis didn’t know when she started working with Eymard was how lasting the fruits of their collaboration would be. She is responsible for coordinating the scientific teams working on the Sentinel-3 mission and supporting preparations for the launch of Copernicus Sentinel-3C, planned for later this year. The Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission carries three main instruments that collect observations about the ocean and atmosphere. The first two satellites in this series – Copernicus Sentinel-3A and -3B – are currently in orbit, and Copernicus Sentinel-3C will replace -3A, contributing to the long-term continuity of this mission, which will last into the 2030s.