USGS Archive and Available Scenes

The USGS archive holds data collected by the Landsat suite of satellites, beginning with Landsat 1 in 1972. All Landsat scenes in the USGS EROS archive are available for download at no charge. The Search and Download page describes how to find Landsat data.

Current Acquisitions

Currently, Landsat 7 continues to collect data, following a near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit on the Worldwide Reference System.

Orbital path of Landsat 7 - FAQ
Worldwide Reference System (WRS) - FAQ

The Landsat Acquisition page lists daily capture schedules, acquisition calendars, and pending acquisitions.

Landsat 7

Landsat 7 collects about 300 scenes per day and scenes downlinked to USGS EROS are generally available to order within 6 hours of acquisition.

Landsat 7 scenes from April 1999 to May 2003 provide complete full-scene data.
Landsat 7 acquisitions since mid-2003 are collected and archived as "SLC-off", due to the Scan Line Corrector failure. This accounts for an approximate loss of 22 percent of the entire scene, and gaps will be visible in the data product.

Landsat 5

The collection of Landsat 5 data has not been as consistent throughout its 27 years, and as of November 2011, collections have been suspended. The latest details about Landsat 5 can be found at http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3231#.UGCu4vU-c7x.