THIRD PARTY MISSIONS
Through the Third Party Missions programme, ESA offers data from a wide range of EO satellite missions developed and operated by other agencies.
What are Third Party Missions?
The Third Party Missions (TPM) programme has been operating for over 45 years and consists of a series of satellites specifically focused on Earth Observation which are owned by commercial and public organisations worldwide.
The programme currently comprises over 50 missions with data sourced from more than 60 instruments which is supplied to users for research and development purposes. ESA promotes the availability of these third party datasets so that they are offered through a single programme for ease of access.
Some examples of Third Party Missions, that are currently operational, include Pléiades Neo, Spire, GHGSat, ICEYE and PlanetScope.

Meet the Manager of the Earthnet TPM Programme
Peggy Fischer is the Manager of the Earthnet TPM Programme and the Mission Manager of ESA Third Party Missions (TPMs)....
Introducing the TPM Ground Segment Operational Team
Third Party Missions (TPMs) are Earth Observation (EO) missions that are not owned or operated by ESA. The agency has an agreement with thes...
Third Party Missions Brochure
This brochure summarises ESA's Third Party Missions programme, providing a timeline and examples of content related to some of the missions....
International collaboration: Summarising ESA’s Third Party Missions
ESA’s Third Party Missions programme consists of more than 50 missions from around the world. Learn more about the Third Party Missions in t...
Featured Missions
Explore the European Space Agency's Earth Observation satellite missions. Learn all about ESA's dedicated Earth Explorers or collaborations with other agencies through the Third Party Missions programme
PROBA-1
PROBA-1 is a technology demonstration satellite that later became an operational Earth observation mission....
Pléiades Neo
Pléiades Neo is a very high resolution optical constellation of two identical satellites phased at 180° from each other....
SAOCOM
The SAOCOM (SAtélite Argentino de Observación COn Microondas) satellite series represents Argentina's approved polarimetric L-band SAR const...
COSMO-SkyMed Series
COSMO-SkyMed (COnstellation of small Satellites for the Mediterranean basin Observation) Series aims to provide global Earth observation tha...
COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation
COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation is at the forefront of radar technology, will ensure improvements and guarantee continuity with the First Gen...
GHGSat
The GHGSat mission is dedicated to measuring emissions of greenhouse gases....
WorldView-4
WorldView-4 was an imaging and environment-monitoring satellite from Maxar of the United States, which offered very high resolution imagery....
WorldView-1
WorldView-1 helped meet the growing commercial demand for multi-spectral geospatial imagery....
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...
European Cities: Cartosat-1 Euro-Maps 3D
A large number of European cities are covered by this dataset; for each city you can find one or more Cartosat-1 ortho image products and on...
TanSat AGCS and CAPI products
The Atmospheric Carbon-dioxide Grating Spectrometer (ACGS) instrument is pushbroom spectrometer operating in NIR and SWIR bands which allows...
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...
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....
European Cities: Cartosat-1 Euro-Maps 3D DSMs and Ortho Images
ESA is pleased to announce that the Cartosat-1 Euro-Maps 3D Digital Surface Model (DSM) and ortho image products collection on European citi...
Open Announcement Of Opportunities
Data Access Guides
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...
How to guide for submitting Project Proposals
This detailed guide will show step-by-step how to submit a project proposal, in order to request access to restrained datasets, usually on-d...
How to access data advertised by an ESA Announcement of Opportunity
This guide sets out how to request access to Earth observation data promoted through an ESA Announcement of Opportunity (AO)....
Third Party Missions Data Access Guide
The Third Party Missions data access guide helps identify the various types of data that are available from these missions, the kinds of app...
Quick guide to Project Proposal submission
This infographic provides a quick guide to the Project Proposal submission process....
Quick guide to Announcement of Opportunity submission
This infographic provides a quick guide to learn how to access data or participate in activities offered through ESA's Announcement of Oppor...
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
newsletter
Subscribe to our newsletter to receive highlights of recent news from Earth Online