- Home
- Missions
- Data
- Communications
- People
- The Earth Observer Newsletter
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.
You are here
Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3 (ISS-OCO-3)
Status:
Current, Extended Mission
Mission Category:
Earth System Science Pathfinder Program, Other
Launch Date: May 4, 2019
The third Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-3) is a space instrument designed to investigate important questions about the distribution of carbon dioxide on Earth as it relates to growing urban populations and changing patterns of fossil fuel combustion. NASA has developed and assembled the instrument using spare materials from the successful development and launch of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 in 2014 and hosts the instrument on the Japanese Experiment Module- Exposed Facility (JEM-EF) onboard the International Space Station.
Key Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3 Facts
| Mission/Portal Page: | https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/orbiting-carbon-observatory-3-oco-3/ |
|---|---|
| Altitude:Distance from sea level. | 400km |
| Inclination: | 51.6° |
| Origination: | NASA |
| Instruments: |
Grating spectrometers |