Heritage Missions
ESA’s Heritage Space Programme preserves, keeps accessible and curates 40+ years of Earth Observation heritage data from more than 45 satellite missions that are no longer operational and from ESA dedicated EO campaigns.
What are Heritage Missions?
The Heritage Mission programme ensures that data from missions that are no longer operational are continuing to aid in present day scientific studies, which have extensive benefits for our society and the ongoing environmental research of the planet.
More than 40 years of preserved Earth observation data, from over 45 remote sensing missions, are available. The preservation of these data supports environment and climate changed research; helping scientists discover major breakthroughs in the fight against global warming. Furthermore, information from these missions is also used to support the development of a wide range of operational applications whilst enabling harmonisation between past, present and future missions and their associated data.
Some examples of key missions from the programme include the European Remote Sensing satellites (ERS-1 and ERS-2), Envisat and the Gravity Field and Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE).
Timeline to over 40 years of historical satellite missions
ESA's Heritage Space Programme preserves historical data from over 40 years of Earth observation missions....
Interviewing Mirko Albani
ESA’s Heritage Space Programme Manager describes the goals of the programme, some of the challenges involved in preserving and improving 40 ...
Heritage Missions brochure
This brochure describes ESA's Heritage Space Programme and includes infographics describing some of the missions in the programme....
Long-term data: Summarising ESA’s Heritage missions
ESA’s Heritage Space Programme preserves data from non-operational missions. Learn more about the Heritage missions in this video....
Featured Missions
ERS
Heritage Missions
The ERS programme was composed of two missions, ERS-1 and ERS-2, which together observed the Earth for 20 years, from 1991 to 2011....
Envisat
Heritage Missions
Envisat was ESA's successor to ERS. Envisat carried ten instruments aboard for a wide range of Earth observing fields. The mission was opera...
GOCE
Earth Explorers
Heritage Missions
ESA's Gravity field and Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) mission mapped Earth's geoid very accurately, opening a window into Earth's interi...
ALOS-1
Third Party Missions
Heritage Missions
The Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS-1) was a Japanese Earth-imaging satellite from JAXA....
JERS-1
Third Party Missions
Heritage Missions
The overall objectives of JERS-1 (Japanese Earth Resources Satellite) were the generation of global data sets with SAR and OPS sensors aimed...
KOMPSAT-2
Third Party Missions
Heritage Missions
KOMPSAT-2 (Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite-2), also known as Arirang-2, was developed by KARI (Korea Aerospace Research Institute) to continue...
NOAA POES
Third Party Missions
Heritage Missions
NOAA's AVHRR sensor is carried on the POES mission, a constellation of polar orbiting weather satellites....
SPOT
Third Party Missions
Heritage Missions
The SPOT (from French "Satellite pour l'Observation de la Terre") series of missions has been supplying high-resolution, wide-area optical i...
Discover Our Latest Data
GEOSAT-2 Portugal Coverage 2021
GEOSAT-2 Portugal coverage is a collection of 2021 data over the Portugal area, including islands. The available dataset has a cloud cover l...
Envisat AATSR L1B Brightness Temperature/Radiance [ENV_AT_1_RBT]
-AATSR Full Resolution land and ocean cover image of the Iberian Peninsula from 28 October 2006AATSR Full Resolution land cover image of th...
Landsat RBV
This dataset contains Landsat 3 Return Beam Vidicon (RBV) products, acquired by ESA by the Fucino ground station over its visibility mask. T...
ALOS PRISM L1C
This collection provides access to the ALOS-1 PRISM (Panchromatic Remote-sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping) OB1 L1C data acquired by ESA...
Latest Data Release News
Additional GRACE-FO Density dataset available
An extension of the GRACE Follow-On dataset for thermosphere density has been published on the Swarm dissemination server....
New Release of GRACE Thermosphere Crosswind Data
An updated version of the GRACE thermosphere crosswind data (Version 0002), featuring improved flagging, is available on the Swarm dissemina...
New data available: GEOSAT-2 Portugal Coverage 2021
A new collection is available to the public through ESA’s Earthnet Third Party Missions Programme: the GEOSAT-2 Portugal Coverage 2021....
New Landsat RBV data collection opened to users
ESA is pleased to announce that the Landsat RBV data collection has been opened to users....
Data Access Guides
How to request level zero radar data from ERS and Envisat
To apply to use level zero (A)SAR radar data from ESA’s European Remote Sensing satellites (ERS-1 and ERS-2) and its Envisat mission for res...
Quick guide to Data Service Request submission
Follow this quick guide to learn how to submit a Data Service Request, which is required when applying for level zero (A)SAR data from ESA's...
How to access Earth observation data distributed by ESA - Fast Registration
Researchers can quickly obtain datasets from ESA’s Third Party Missions and Heritage Missions on a free basis, by using the Fast Registratio...
Quick guide to Fast Registration submission
Follow this quick guide to learn how to obtain access to datasets offered through ESA's Fast Registration mechanism....
Browse Missions By Thematic Area
Latest Newsletters
Earth Online Newsletter - 22 September 2023
This issue of the Earth Online Newsletter covers a selection of the latest news and events from ESA....
Earth Online Newsletter - 08 September 2023
This issue of the Earth Online Newsletter covers a selection of the latest news and events from ESA....
Earth Online Newsletter 25 August 2023
This issue of the Earth Online Newsletter covers a selection of the latest news and events from ESA....
Earth Online Newsletter 07 August 2023
This issue of the Earth Online Newsletter covers a selection of the latest news and events from ESA....
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