Earth Observing System


The Earth Observing System is a program of NASA comprising a series of artificial satellite missions and scientific instruments in Earth orbit designed for long-term global observations of the land surface, biosphere, atmosphere, and oceans. The satellite component of the program was launched in 1997. The program is centerpiece of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise.

Mission list with launch dates

Active missionCompleted mission

SatelliteLaunch dateDesigned lifeCompletion dateLaunch siteAgencyMission description
ACRIMSAT20 December 199930 July 2014VandenbergNASAStudy Total Solar Irradiance
ADEOS I17 August 199630 June 1997TanegashimaNASA / NASDAStudy wind scattering and map the ozone layer
ADEOS II 14 December 200224 October 2003TanegashimaJAXA NASAMonitor the water and energy cycle as a part of the global climate system
ATS-37 December 19663 years1 December 1978Cape CanaveralNASAWeather observation
ATLAS-124 March 19922 April 1992NASAUnravel man's impact on the environment
CHAMP15 July 20005 years19 September 2010Plesetsk 132/1GFZAtmospheric and ionospheric research
CRRES25 July 19903 years12 October 1991Cape CanaveralNASAInvestigate fields, plasmas, and energetic particles inside the magnetosphere
DE 1 and DE 23 August 198128 February 1991 and 19 February 1983VandenbergNASAInvestigate the interactions between plasmas in the magnetosphere and those in the ionosphere
ERBS5 October 19842 years14 October 2005Cape CanaveralNASAStudy the Earth's radiation budget and stratospheric aerosol and gases
ESSA program1966–1969Cape CanaveralESSANASAProvide cloud-cover photography
ERS-117 July 1991March 2000KourouESAMeasure wind speed and direction and ocean wave parameters
SeaWiFS1 August 19971 August 200211 December 2010VandenbergGeoEyeNASAProvide quantitative data on global ocean bio-optical properties
TRMM27 November 199727 November 20009 April 2015TanegashimaNASAJAXAMonitor and study tropical rainfall
Landsat 715 April 1999ActiveVandenbergNASASupply the world with global land surface images
QuikSCAT19 June 199919 June 200219 November 2009VandenbergNASAJPLAcquire global radar cross-sections and near-surface vector winds
Terra 18 December 199918 December 2005ActiveVandenbergNASAProvide global data on the state of the atmosphere, land, and oceans
NMP/EO-121 November 200030 March 2017VandenbergNASADemonstrate new technologies and strategies for improved Earth observations
Jason 17 December 20011 July 2013VandenbergNASACNESProvide information on ocean surface current velocity and heights
Meteor 3M-1/Sage III10 December 20016 March 2006BaikonurRoscosmosProvide accurate, long-term measurements of ozone, aerosols, water vapor, and other key parameters of Earth's atmosphere
GRACE17 March 200227 October 2017Plesetsk CosmodromeNASADLRMeasure Earth's mean and time-variable gravity field
Aqua4 May 20024 May 2008ActiveVandenbergNASACollect water information in the Earth system
ICESat12 January 200314 August 2010VandenbergNASAMeasuring ice sheet mass balance, cloud and aerosol heights, and land topography and vegetation characteristics
SORCE25 January 2003ActiveCape CanaveralNASAImprove our understanding of the Sun
Aura15 July 200415 July 2010ActiveVandenbergNASAInvestigate questions about ozone trends, air-quality changes and their linkage to climate change
CloudSat28 April 200628 April 2009ActiveVandenbergNASAProvide the first direct, global survey of the vertical structure and overlap of cloud systems and their liquid and ice-water contents
CALIPSO28 April 2006ActiveVandenbergNASACNESImprove understanding of the role aerosols and clouds play in regulating the Earth's climate
SMAP31 January 201531 May 2018ActiveVandenbergNASAMeasure surface soil moisture and freeze-thaw state
OCO-22 July 20142 July 2019ActiveVandenbergNASAProvide space-based global measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide
Aquarius10 June 201117 June 2015VandenbergNASA CONAEMap the spatial and temporal variations of sea surface salinity
Landsat 811 February 201311 February 2018ActiveVandenbergNASAUSGSSupply the world with global land surface images