Low Earth Orbit (LEO)

A commercial low-Earth-orbit constellation delivering rapid-revisit, high-cadence Earth imagery.

The first satellite launched by the United States, in 1958, whose radiation detector discovered the Van Allen radiation belts. Built by JPL and launched by the U.S. Army — NASA did not yet exist.

A low-Earth-orbit satellite-phone and data constellation serving voice, messaging, and IoT connectivity.

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.

The second-generation Iridium constellation of 66 cross-linked low-Earth-orbit satellites providing pole-to-pole voice and data coverage.

A radar-altimetry mission continuing the decades-long record of global sea-surface height for oceanography and climate monitoring.

A crowdfunded CubeSat that demonstrated controlled solar sailing in Earth orbit, raising its orbit using only the pressure of sunlight.

A low-Earth-orbit broadband constellation providing global connectivity, focused on enterprise, government, and maritime users.

SpaceX's low-Earth-orbit broadband internet constellation, the largest ever built, delivering global high-speed connectivity.

A NASA–CNES mission surveying the height of Earth's surface water — oceans, lakes, and rivers — with unprecedented resolution.

The first successful weather satellite, which returned the first television images of Earth's cloud cover in 1960 and founded operational meteorology from space.