In October 2005 the European Space Agency (ESA) awarded the GSE FM consortium the implementation stage or Stage 2. GAF and the entire GSE FM consortium were delighted with the news of the Stage 2 award which combined a baseline and extension programme such that a full complement of service cases can be developed and offered in the next 3 years.

The expanded user community that is committed for implementing the services in Stage 2 and the geographical scope is illustrated in the Figure below. A strong interest was expressed by the European Environmental Agency (EEA) to obtain GSE FM services for its policy supporting activities which forms the basis for the Pan European service case in Stage 2.

There will also be a continued emphasis on service delivery for the Kyoto Protocol as the Protocol came into legal force in February 2005 and thus an increased demand for the services.