Satellites & Stations
Spacecraft and stations in orbit around Earth.
A
1C
2E
1G
4- Satellite
GOES-16
The first of NOAA's advanced GOES-R geostationary weather satellites, imaging the Western Hemisphere every few minutes for forecasting and storm tracking.
- Satellite
GOSAT (Ibuki)
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.
- Satellite
GRACE
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.
- Satellite
GRACE-FO
The follow-on mission to GRACE, continuing the record of Earth's changing gravity field and the redistribution of water and ice.
H
2- Satellite
Himawari-8
A Japanese geostationary weather satellite operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency, providing high-frequency full-disk imaging of East Asia and the western Pacific.
- Satellite
Hipparcos
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.
I
3- Satellite
ICESat-2
A NASA laser-altimetry mission measuring the elevation of ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice, and vegetation to track a changing planet.
- Satellite
Intelsat I (Early Bird)
The first commercial communications satellite in geostationary orbit, which began regular transatlantic telecommunications service in 1965.
- Satellite
International Space Station
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.
J
1L
4- Satellite
Landsat 1
The first satellite of the Landsat program, which began the longest continuous record of Earth's land surface from space.
- Satellite
Landsat 8
A NASA/USGS Landsat satellite carrying the Operational Land Imager and Thermal Infrared Sensor, continuing the multi-decade land-imaging record.
- Satellite
Landsat 9
The latest Landsat satellite, launched in 2021 to work in tandem with Landsat 8 for an eight-day global revisit of the land surface.
- Satellite
LightSail 2
A crowdfunded CubeSat that demonstrated controlled solar sailing in Earth orbit, raising its orbit using only the pressure of sunlight.
M
2- Satellite
Meteosat Second Generation
EUMETSAT's geostationary weather satellites imaging Europe, Africa, and the Atlantic to support European weather forecasting.
- Satellite
Molniya
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.
N
1S
5- Satellite
Sentinel-1
A Copernicus radar-imaging mission providing all-weather, day-and-night synthetic-aperture radar imagery of land and ocean.
- Satellite
Sentinel-2
A Copernicus optical-imaging mission delivering high-resolution multispectral imagery for land monitoring, agriculture, and disaster response.
- Satellite
Sentinel-3
A Copernicus mission monitoring ocean and land surface temperature, colour, and topography for climate and marine services.
- Satellite
SMAP
A NASA mission mapping the moisture in Earth's surface soil to improve weather and climate models and monitor drought and floods.
- Satellite
SWOT
A NASA–CNES mission surveying the height of Earth's surface water — oceans, lakes, and rivers — with unprecedented resolution.
T
3- Satellite
Telstar 1
The first active communications satellite, which relayed the first transatlantic television signals in 1962.
- Satellite
Terra
NASA's flagship Earth Observing System morning satellite, carrying instruments including MODIS and ASTER to study land, ocean, and atmosphere.
- Satellite
TIROS-1
The first successful weather satellite, which returned the first television images of Earth's cloud cover in 1960 and founded operational meteorology from space.