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
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
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
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
The Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS-1) was a Japanese Earth-imaging satellite from JAXA....
JERS-1
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
KOMPSAT-2 (Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite-2), also known as Arirang-2, was developed by KARI (Korea Aerospace Research Institute) to continue...
NOAA POES
NOAA's AVHRR sensor is carried on the POES mission, a constellation of polar orbiting weather satellites....
SPOT
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
MOS-1/1B ESA System Corrected VTIR Products [VTI_SYC_1P]
The ESA System Corrected (Level 1) MOS-1/1B VTIR Products collection is composed of MOS-1/1B VTIR (Visible and Thermal Infrared Radiometer) ...
MOS-1/1B ESA Orthorectified Map-oriented Products [MES_GEC_1P]
The ESA Orthorectified Map-oriented (Level 1) Products collection is composed of MOS-1/1B MESSR (Multi-spectral Electronic Self-Scanning Rad...
MOS-1/1B ESA System Corrected Map-oriented Products [MES_GES_1P]
The ESA System Corrected Map-oriented (Level 1) Products collection is composed of MOS-1/1B MESSR (Multi-spectral Electronic Self-Scanning R...
GEOSAT-2 Spain Coverage
The GEOSAT-2 Spain Coverage collection consists of two separate coverages of Spain, including the Balearic and Canary islands, acquired by G...
Latest Data Release News
GEOSAT-2 Spain Coverage 2022 collection open to users
ESA’s Earthnet Third Party Missions Programme presents the latest addition to its collection: the GEOSAT-2 Spain Coverage 2022....
Envisat AATSR 4th reprocessing data now available on new ESA Dissemination Server
The latest reprocessed Envisat AATSR Level 1B Brightness Temperature/Radiance dataset [ENV_AT_1_RBT] has now been migrated from simple FTP-S...
Reprocessed GRACE-FO thermosphere data available on Swarm dissemination Server
An updated version of the GRACE Follow-On dataset for thermosphere density and crosswind data has been published on the Swarm dissemination ...
New Super Resolution product for GEOSAT-2
A new GEOSAT-2 super resolution product with enhanced resolution of up to 40 cm has been added to the collection....
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 - 19 April 2024
This issue of the Earth Online Newsletter covers a selection of the latest news and events from ESA....
Earth Online Newsletter - 05 April 2024
This issue of the Earth Online Newsletter covers a selection of the latest news and events from ESA....
Earth Online Newsletter - 22 March 2024
This issue of the Earth Online Newsletter covers a selection of the latest news and events from ESA....
Earth Online Newsletter - 08 March 2024
This issue of the Earth Online Newsletter covers a selection of the latest news and events from ESA....