Operating

Operating Earth missions actively make measurements and send raw data to operation centers that process the data and make them available for archive and distribution at Earth science data centers. Missions are designed to operate for a lifetime on orbit ranging from one to several years. This defines the primary operational phase of the mission.

Missions that are still functional at the end of their primary operational phase undergo a senior review process at NASA Headquarters. A Senior Review Panel is convened to evaluate the scientific performance of each mission and the continued relevance of each mission to the NASA Science Strategic Plan. Performance factors include scientific merit, national needs, the technical status of the mission, and budget efficiency. Missions that pass the senior review process may then be extended beyond their primary operational phase into an extended operational phase.

Senior Reviews for Earth Operating Missions:

2011 Senior Review
- Science Panel Report, full report
2009 Senior Review
2007 Senior Review
Visit the Decadal Surveys page for CLARREO, ICESat-2, DESDynI, SMAP reports.

The table below lists all operating Earth missions.

*Sort missions by clicking the column headers.

Division	Name	Launch Date	Phase
Earth	ACRIMSAT ACRIMSAT is the latest in a series of long-term solar-monitoring missions, utilizing the proven Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor III (ACRIM III) instrument. This mission is part of SMD's Earth Systematic Missions program.	19991220 December 20, 1999	3Operating
Earth	AirMOSS North American ecosystems are critical components of the global carbon cycle, exchanging large amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases with the atmosphere. Root-zone soil measurements can be used to better understand these carbon fluxes and their associated uncertainties on ...	20120301 March 2012	3Operating
Earth	Aqua Aqua obtains a set of precise atmosphere and oceans measurements to understand their role in Earth's climate and its variations. Aqua carries six state-of-the-art instruments to observe the Earth's oceans, atmosphere, land, ice and snow covers, and vegetation, providing high ...	20020504 May 04, 2002	3Operating
Earth	Aquarius Aquarius is a focused satellite mission to measure global sea surface salinity (SSS). Its instruments measure changes in SSS equivalent to about a "pinch" (i.e., 1/6 of a teaspoon) of salt in 1 gallon of water. By measuring SSS over ...	20110610 June 10, 2011	3Operating
Earth	ATTREX Stratospheric water vapor has large impacts on the earth’s climate and energy budget. Future changes in stratospheric humidity and ozone concentration in response to changing climate are significant climate feedbacks.	20130801 August 2013	3Operating
Earth	Aura The Aura satellite hosts a suite of scientific instruments designed to make the most comprehensive measurements ever undertaken of atmospheric trace gases. Aura's objective is to study the chemistry and dynamics of the Earth's atmosphere with emphasis on the upper ...	20040715 July 15, 2004	3Operating
Earth	CALIPSO The CALIPSO satellite was developed to help scientists answer significant questions and provide new information about the effects of clouds and aerosols (airborne particles) on changes in the Earth's climate. Understanding these components will provide the international science community with ...	20060428 April 28, 2006	3Operating
Earth	CARVE The carbon budget of Arctic ecosystems is not known with confidence since fundamental elements of the complex Arctic biological-climatologic-hydrologic system are poorly quantified. Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE) will collect detailed measurements of important greenhouse gases on local ...	20120301 2012	3Operating
Earth	CloudSat CloudSat uses advanced radar to "slice" through clouds to see their vertical structure, providing a completely new observational capability from space. CloudSat is one of the first satellites to study clouds on a global basis. This mission is part of ...	20060428 April 28, 2006	3Operating
Earth	DISCOVER-AQ The overarching objective of the DISCOVER-AQ investigation is to improve the interpretation of satellite observations to diagnose near‐surface conditions relating to air quality. To diagnose air quality conditions from space, reliable satellite information on aerosols and ozone precursors is needed ...	20110701 July 2011	3Operating
Earth	Earth Observing-1 (NMP) The NMP EO-1 mission is an advanced land-imaging mission that will demonstrate new instruments and spacecraft systems. EO-1 will validate technologies contributing to the significant reduction in cost of follow-on Landsat missions. The future of Earth science measurements requires that ...	20001121 November 21, 2000	3Operating
Earth	GOES I - M The GOES I-M satellites are the primary element of U.S. weather monitoring and forecast operations and are a key component of NOAA's National Weather Service operations and modernization program. These missions are part of the GOES / POES program.	19940413 April 13, 1994	3Operating
Earth	GRACE The primary goal of the GRACE mission is to accurately map variations in the Earth's gravity field over its 5-year lifetime. This provides scientists from all over the world with an efficient and cost-effective way to map the Earth's gravity ...	20020317 March 17, 2002	3Operating
Earth	HS3 Close to 100 million Americans now live within 50 miles of a coastline, thus exposing them to the potential destruction caused by a landfalling hurricane. While hurricane track prediction has improved in recent decades, improvements in hurricane intensity prediction have ...	20120801 August 2012	3Operating
Earth	Jason-1 Jason is an oceanography mission to monitor global ocean circulation, improve global climate predictions, and monitor events such as El Nino conditions and ocean eddies. The Jason-1 satellite carries a radar altimeter, and it is a follow-on mission to the ...	20011207 December 07, 2001	3Operating
Earth	LAGEOS 1&2 LAGEOS, or Laser Geodynamics Satellites, are a series of satellites designed to provide an orbiting benchmark for geodynamical studies of the Earth. LAGEOS 1 & 2 provide long-term data sets to monitor the motion of the Earth's tectonic plates; measure ...	19760504 May 04, 1976	3Operating
Earth	Landsat 7 Landsat 7 systematically provides well-calibrated, multispectral, moderate resolution, substantially cloud-free, Sun-lit digital images of the Earth's continental and coastal areas with global coverage on a seasonal basis. It covers the United States every 16 days. Operations were transferred to USGS ...	19990415 April 15, 1999	3Operating
Earth	NOAA-N NOAA-N broadcasts data directly to thousands of users around the world and continues to provide a polar-orbiting platform to support the environmental monitoring instruments for imaging and measurement of the Earth's atmosphere, its surface, and cloud cover. Observations include information ...	20050520 May 20, 2005	3Operating
Earth	Operation IceBridge Operation IceBridge is a six-year airborne campaign designed to capture geophysical measurements of changes in polar ice sheets and sea ice during a gap in the space-based observations of ICESat and ICESat-2.	20091015 October 15, 2009	3Operating
Earth	OSTM OSTM measures sea surface height to an accuracy of < 3.3 cm every ten days. Sea surface topography measured by satellite altimeters has numerous applications important to global environmental monitoring including predicting hurricane intensification, improving tide models, mapping deep ocean ...	20080620 June 20, 2008	3Operating
Earth	QuikSCAT QuikSCAT mission is intended to record sea-surface wind speed and direction data under all weather and cloud conditions over Earth's oceans. QuikSCAT was initiated as a "quick recovery" mission to help reduce the ocean-wind vector data gap created by the ...	19990619 June 19, 1999	3Operating
Earth	RADARSAT-1 Canada's Radarsat is a radar satellite featuring variable resolution, and different view angles at a number of preset positions.	19951104 November 04, 1995	3Operating
Earth	SeaWinds (ADEOS II) The SeaWinds scatterometer is a specialized microwave radar that measures near-surface wind velocity (both speed and direction) under all weather and cloud conditions over Earth's oceans. This is a twin sister to the QuikSCAT sensor and flies on the Japanese ...	20021214 December 14, 2002	3Operating
Earth	SORCE SORCE is a NASA-sponsored satellite mission that will provide state-of-the-art measurements of incoming x-ray, ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared, and total solar radiation. The measurements provided by SORCE specifically address long-term climate change, natural variability and enhanced climate prediction, and atmospheric ozone ...	20030125 January 25, 2003	3Operating
Earth	Suomi NPP Suomi NPP is a joint mission to extend key measurements in support of long term monitoring of climate trends and of global biological productivity. This mission is part of SMD's Earth Systematic Missions program.	20111025 October 25, 2011	3Operating
Earth	Terra Terra (formerly EOS AM-1) is the flagship satellite of NASA's Earth observing systems. Terra is the first EOS (Earth Observing System) platform and provides global data on the state of the atmosphere, land, and oceans, as well as their interactions ...	19991218 December 18, 1999	3Operating
Earth	TRMM TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan. TRMM is particularly devoted to determining rainfall in the tropics and subtropics of the Earth. These regions make up about two thirds of the ...	19971127 November 27, 1997	3Operating