Landsat 9

Landsat 9
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab · Public domain · source
Name	Landsat 9
Mission type	Earth observation
Operator	National Aeronautics and Space Administration / United States Geological Survey
Cospar id	2021-092A
Satcat	49241
Manufacturer	Orbital ATK / Northrop Grumman
Launch date	2021-09-27
Launch vehicle	Atlas V
Launch site	Vandenberg Space Force Base
Orbit	Sun-synchronous
Instruments	Operational Land Imager 2 (OLI-2), Thermal Infrared Sensor 2 (TIRS-2)

Landsat 9 is an American optical and thermal imaging satellite designed to continue the multi-decade Landsat program of Earth observation. Built and operated by teams from NASA and the United States Geological Survey, the spacecraft extends a record of moderate-resolution global land imagery that began with Landsat 1 and includes Landsat 8. The mission supports applications across environmental monitoring, agriculture, forestry, water resources, and disaster response in partnership with agencies such as the European Space Agency and institutions like the United States Department of Agriculture.

Overview

Landsat 9 delivers systematic, calibrated multispectral and thermal data at approximately 30-meter and 100-meter native resolutions, respectively, from a near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit. It continues the long-running Landsat program partnership between NASA and the United States Geological Survey established in the 1970s with Landsat 1. The platform complements international efforts such as the Sentinel series coordinated by European Space Agency and contributes to global datasets used by organizations including the World Bank, United Nations Environment Programme, and the Food and Agriculture Organization.

Mission and objectives

The mission objectives emphasize continuity, radiometric calibration, and enhanced operational availability to support long-term Earth science and resource management. Key goals include providing consistent surface reflectance records for climate studies pursued by teams at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, enabling operational applications used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and supporting research at universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University. The satellite also aims to maintain data continuity with predecessors like Landsat 7 despite sensor degradation events experienced by earlier platforms.

Spacecraft and instruments

The spacecraft bus was produced by contractors including Orbital ATK and Northrop Grumman and houses two primary instruments adapted from earlier designs. The Operational Land Imager 2 (OLI-2) is a pushbroom radiometer that measures visible, near-infrared, and shortwave-infrared bands, providing data comparable to Landsat 8's OLI and supporting spectral analyses used by research groups at California Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkeley. The Thermal Infrared Sensor 2 (TIRS-2) provides two thermal bands and incorporates design changes to mitigate stray-light artifacts identified on prior missions; thermal datasets are critical to hydrology research at institutions like Princeton University and Columbia University. The observatory's attitude control and guidance systems leverage heritage components used on missions such as Terra and Aqua, and onboard data handling links to ground processing centers including the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center.

Launch and ground operations

Landsat 9 launched aboard an Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base with mission management led by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and operational responsibility transferred to the United States Geological Survey for routine acquisition and distribution. Ground segment operations utilize processing pipelines and archival systems maintained at the USGS EROS Center and integrate into international data exchange frameworks used by the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites and the Group on Earth Observations. Routine commanding, calibration, and validation campaigns have engaged partners including Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Data products and applications

Landsat 9 delivers calibrated Level-1 data products (raw radiance, georeferenced imagery) and higher-level Level-2 surface reflectance and thermal emissivity products used extensively in land-cover mapping, crop monitoring, wildfire assessment, and water-resource management. Users from agencies such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency, United Kingdom Met Office, and research centers at University of Oxford and Peking University apply Landsat 9 data to time-series analyses, change detection, and calibration/validation of models developed at institutions like NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The archive complements high-resolution commercial imagery from companies like Maxar Technologies and supports integration with radar datasets from missions such as Sentinel-1.

Mission status and milestones

Following launch on 27 September 2021 and commissioning activities overseen by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the mission achieved operational status with data handover to the USGS for routine distribution. Significant milestones include cross-calibration exercises with Landsat 8 to ensure inter-sensor continuity, responses to natural disasters including major wildfires and floods coordinated with Federal Emergency Management Agency, and continued high mission availability supporting global observational commitments under programs like Group on Earth Observations. Ongoing technical monitoring and calibration campaigns involve academic partners such as University of Arizona and University of Maryland to preserve the multi-decadal Landsat record.

Category:Earth observation satellites Category:NASA satellites Category:United States Geological Survey satellites