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Recent Imagery

You will be directed to the NASA Visible Earth webpage when you select Images by Mission below, or click on the images at right that are randomly generated to represent four out of all possible topics.

Images by MIssion
ADEOS Aqua Aquarius Aura CALIPSO CloudSat EO-1 GOES N-P GRACE ICESat Jason-1 Landsat 7 OSTM/Jason-2 QuikSCAT Seasat 1 SeaWinds SORCE Suomi NPP Terra TOPEX TOMS-EP TRMM

NASA's Earth Observing System Project Science Office

NASA’s Earth Observing System (EOS) is a coordinated series of polar-orbiting and low inclination satellites for long-term global observations of the land surface, biosphere, solid Earth, atmosphere, and oceans. As a major component of the Earth Science Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, EOS enables an improved understanding of the Earth as an integrated system. The EOS Project Science Office (EOSPSO) is committed to bringing program information and resources to the Earth science research community and the general public alike.

Download ChartEarth Science Mission Profiles

This website has been designed to cover not just the original Earth Observing System (EOS) missions, but also all of NASA’s Earth-observing satellite missions (many of them joint with other nations and/or agencies), along with other elements of NASA’s Earth Science program. The EOSPSO is funded through the Earth Science Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

NASA Earth Science Division Operating Missions

NASA Earth Science Division Operating Missions

Image by Jenny Mottar, NASA Headquarters
Added: March 19, 2013

 
  • ADEOS
    Launch: Aug 17 1996
    Altitude:
    803km
    Inclination:
    98.60°
    Local Node:
    10:15 a.m.
  • ATS
    Launch: Dec 7 1966
  • ATLAS-1
    Launch: Mar 24 1992
  • CHAMP
    Launch: Jul 15 2000
  • CRRES
    Launch: Jul 25 1990
  • DE 1
    Launch: Aug 3 1981
  • DE 2
    Launch: Aug 3 1981
  • ERBS
    Launch: Oct 5 1984
  • ESSA
    Launch: Feb 3 1966
  • ERS-1 (ESA)
    Launch: Jul 17 1991
  • GEOSAT
    Launch: Mar 12 1985
  • GOES A-C
    Launch: Oct 16 1975
  • GOES D-H
    Launch: Sep 9 1980
  • ICESat
    Launch: Jan 12 2003
    Altitude:
    600km
    Inclination:
    94.00°
  • MOS-1
    Launch: Feb 19 1987
  • MOMS
    Launch: Jun 18 1983
  • Nimbus 1
    Launch: Aug 28 1964
  • Nimbus 2
    Launch: May 15 1966
  • Nimbus 3
    Launch: Apr 14 1969
  • Nimbus 4
    Launch: Apr 8 1970
  • Nimbus 5
    Launch: Dec 11 1972
  • Nimbus 6
    Launch: Jun 12 1975
  • Nimbus 7
    Launch: Oct 24 1978
  • NOAA-POES
    Launch: Mar 28 1993
  • RADARSAT (Joint with Canada)
    Launch: Nov 4 1995
  • SeaWiFS
    Launch: Aug 1 1997
    Altitude:
    705km
    Inclination:
    98.20°
    Local Node:
    12:00 noon
  • Seasat 1
    Launch: Jun 28 1978
  • SeaWinds (Joint with Japan and France)
    Launch: Dec 14 2002
    Altitude:
    803km
    Inclination:
    98.60°
  • SRTM (Joint with NGA, Germany, and Italy)
    Launch: Feb 11 2000
  • SIR-C (Joint with Germany and Italy)
    Launch: Apr 19 1994
  • SAGE III
    Launch: Dec 10 2001
    Altitude:
    1,020km
    Inclination:
    99.50°
    Local Node:
    9:30 a.m.
  • SMS
    Launch: May 17 1974
  • TIROS (NASA)
    Launch: Apr 1 1960
  • TERRIERS
    Launch: May 18 1999
  • TOPEX
    Launch: Aug 10 1992
  • TOMS-EP
    Launch: Jul 2 1996
  • UARS
    Launch: Sep 12 1991
    Altitude:
    585km
    Inclination:
    57.00°
  • ACRIMSAT
    Launch: Dec 20 1999
    Altitude:
    720km
    Inclination:
    98.10°
    Local Node:
    10:00 a.m.
  • Aqua (Joint with Japan and Brazil)
    Launch: May 4 2002
    Altitude:
    705km
    Inclination:
    98.20°
    Local Node:
    1:30 p.m.
  • Aquarius (NASA/Argentina )
    Launch: Jun 9 2011
    Altitude:
    657km
    Inclination:
    98.00°
    Local Node:
    6:00 a.m.
  • Aura (Joint with Netherlands, Finland, and the U.K.)
    Launch: Jul 15 2004
    Altitude:
    705km
    Inclination:
    98.20°
    Local Node:
    1:45 p.m.
  • CALIPSO
    Launch: Apr 28 2006
    Altitude:
    705km
    Inclination:
    98.20°
    Local Node:
    1:30 p.m.
  • CloudSat (Joint with Canada)
    Launch: Apr 28 2006
    Altitude:
    705km
    Inclination:
    98.20°
    Local Node:
    1:30 p.m.
  • EO-1
    Launch: Nov 21 2000
    Altitude:
    705km
    Inclination:
    98.20°
    Local Node:
    10:01 a.m.
  • GOES N-P
    Launch: May 24 2005
  • GOES I-M
    Launch: Apr 13 1994
  • GRACE (Joint with Germany)
    Launch: Mar 17 2002
    Altitude:
    485km
    Inclination:
    89.00°
  • Jason-1 (Joint with France)
    Launch: Dec 7 2001
    Altitude:
    1,336km
    Inclination:
    66.00°
  • Landsat 7 (Joint with USGS)
    Launch: Apr 15 1999
    Altitude:
    705km
    Inclination:
    98.20°
    Local Node:
    10:05 a.m.
  • LDCM
    Launch: Feb 11 2013
    Altitude:
    705km
    Inclination:
    98.20°
    Local Node:
    10:30 a.m.
  • LAGEOS 1&2
    Launch: May 4 1976
  • NOAA-N
    Launch: May 20 2005
  • OSTM/Jason-2 (Joint with NOAA, CNES, and EUMETSAT)
    Launch: Jan 20 2008
    Altitude:
    1,336km
    Inclination:
    66.00°
  • PARASOL (France)
    Launch: Dec 4 2004
    Altitude:
    705km
    Inclination:
    98.00°
    Local Node:
    1:30 p.m.
  • QuikSCAT
    Launch: Jun 19 1999
    Altitude:
    803km
    Inclination:
    98.60°
    Local Node:
    10:15 a.m.
  • SORCE
    Launch: Jan 25 2003
    Altitude:
    640km
    Inclination:
    40.00°
  • Suomi NPP
    Launch: Oct 28 2011
    Altitude:
    824km
    Inclination:
    97.10°
    Local Node:
    1:30 p.m.
  • Terra
    Launch: Dec 18 1999
    Altitude:
    720km
    Inclination:
    98.10°
    Local Node:
    10:40 a.m.
  • GCOM-W1 (JAXA)
    Launch: May 18 2012
    Altitude:
    700km
    Inclination:
    98.00°
  • TRMM (Joint with Japan)
    Launch: Nov 27 1997
    Altitude:
    402km
    Inclination:
    35.00°
  • ACE
  • CLARREO
    Altitude:
    609km
    Inclination:
    90.00°
  • CYGNSS (NASA)
    Launch: 2016
  • GOES-R
    Launch: 2015
  • GPM Core
    Launch: Feb 2014
    Altitude:
    407km
    Inclination:
    65.00°
  • GRACE-FO
    Launch: 2016
  • ICESat-2
    Launch: 2016
  • JPSS-1
    Launch: 2017
    Altitude:
    833km
    Inclination:
    98.70°
    Local Node:
    1:30 p.m.
  • JPSS-2
    Launch: 2023
    Altitude:
    833km
    Inclination:
    98.70°
    Local Node:
    1:30 p.m.
  • L-band SAR (NASA, ISRO)
    Launch: 2021
  • OCO-2
    Launch: Jul 2014
    Altitude:
    705km
    Inclination:
    98.20°
    Local Node:
    1:15 p.m.
  • OCO-3 (NASA)
    Launch: 2017
    Altitude:
    370km
    Inclination:
    51.60°
  • PACE (NASA)
    Launch: 2020
  • SMAP
    Launch: Oct 2014
    Altitude:
    670km
    Local Node:
    6:00 a.m.
  • SAGE III (NASA, ESA)
    Launch: Aug 2014
    Altitude:
    350km
    Inclination:
    51.60°
  • SWOT (Joint with France)
    Launch: 2020
  • TEMPO (NASA)
    Launch: 2017
    Altitude:
    35,786km
• Completed Missions • Current Missions • Future Missions