The Sentinel-3 satellite fits into the Copernicus program, a joint program between Esa and European Union. It is dedicated to Earth monitoring and operational oceanography. This project is the European answer to the needs still growing related to the global environment.

Sentinel-3 belongs to a series of several "Sentinel" satellites, each of which covers a different aspect of Earth Observation and monitoring, and constitute the "space" segment of the Copernicus program.