Loading…
Loading contentLoading…
Loading contentSpacecraft and stations in orbit around Earth.
The first of NOAA's advanced GOES-R geostationary weather satellites, imaging the Western Hemisphere every few minutes for forecasting and storm tracking.
Japan's greenhouse-gases observing satellite — the first satellite dedicated to monitoring atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane from space — operated by JAXA with Japan's National Institute for Environmental Studies.
A twin-satellite mission that mapped tiny variations in Earth's gravity field to track the movement of water, ice, and mass around the planet.
The follow-on mission to GRACE, continuing the record of Earth's changing gravity field and the redistribution of water and ice.
A Japanese geostationary weather satellite operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency, providing high-frequency full-disk imaging of East Asia and the western Pacific.
ESA's pioneering astrometry satellite, which precisely measured the positions, distances, and motions of over 100,000 stars — the forerunner of Gaia. An apogee-motor failure left it in a highly elliptical orbit, yet it still delivered landmark astrometric catalogues.
A NASA laser-altimetry mission measuring the elevation of ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice, and vegetation to track a changing planet.
The first commercial communications satellite in geostationary orbit, which began regular transatlantic telecommunications service in 1965.
The International Space Station is a crewed modular space station in low Earth orbit, operated as a partnership among NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA, and the CSA.
The first satellite of the Landsat program, which began the longest continuous record of Earth's land surface from space.
A NASA/USGS Landsat satellite carrying the Operational Land Imager and Thermal Infrared Sensor, continuing the multi-decade land-imaging record.
The latest Landsat satellite, launched in 2021 to work in tandem with Landsat 8 for an eight-day global revisit of the land surface.
A crowdfunded CubeSat that demonstrated controlled solar sailing in Earth orbit, raising its orbit using only the pressure of sunlight.
EUMETSAT's geostationary weather satellites imaging Europe, Africa, and the Atlantic to support European weather forecasting.
A long-running series of Soviet communications satellites that gave their name to the Molniya orbit — a highly elliptical orbit whose slow apogee high over the northern latitudes provided the coverage that geostationary satellites could not reach at high latitudes.
A Copernicus radar-imaging mission providing all-weather, day-and-night synthetic-aperture radar imagery of land and ocean.
A Copernicus optical-imaging mission delivering high-resolution multispectral imagery for land monitoring, agriculture, and disaster response.
A Copernicus mission monitoring ocean and land surface temperature, colour, and topography for climate and marine services.
A NASA mission mapping the moisture in Earth's surface soil to improve weather and climate models and monitor drought and floods.
A NASA–CNES mission surveying the height of Earth's surface water — oceans, lakes, and rivers — with unprecedented resolution.
The first active communications satellite, which relayed the first transatlantic television signals in 1962.
NASA's flagship Earth Observing System morning satellite, carrying instruments including MODIS and ASTER to study land, ocean, and atmosphere.
The first successful weather satellite, which returned the first television images of Earth's cloud cover in 1960 and founded operational meteorology from space.