Landsat 9

Science instruments: OLI–2; TIRS–2 OLI–2 built by: Ball Aerospace & Technology Corporation TIRS–2 built by: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Design life: 5 years Spacecraft provider: Northrop Grumman Image data: About 750 scenes per day Target launch date: December 2020 Launch vehicle: United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 Orbit: Near-polar, sun-synchronous at an altitude of 438 miles (705 kilometers) Orbital inclination: 98.2 degrees Spacecraft speed: 16,760 miles per hour (26,972 kilometers per hour), Consumables: 10+ years Landsat 9 is a partnership between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that will continue the Landsat program’s critical role of repeat global observations for monitoring, understanding, and managing Earth’s natural resources. Since 1972, Landsat data have provided a unique resource for those who work in agriculture, geology, forestry, regional planning, education, mapping, and global-change research. Landsat images have also proved invaluable to the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters, supporting emergency response and disaster relief to save lives. With the addition of Landsat 9, the Landsat program’s record of land imaging will be extended to over half a century.