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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.
Mission - Heritage Missions
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 at surveying resources, establishing an integrated Earth observation system
Mission - Heritage Missions
KOMPSAT-2
KOMPSAT-2 (Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite-2), also known as Arirang-2, was developed by KARI (Korea Aerospace Research Institute) to continue the observation programme of the KOMPSAT-1 mission.
Mission - Third Party Missions
OceanSat-2
OceanSat-2 provides service continuity for the operational users of the OCM (Ocean Colour Monitor) instrument launched in 1999 on board the predecessor IRS-P4/OceanSat-1 mission.
Mission - Heritage Missions
Seasat
On board Seasat was the first-ever space-borne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system for science applications.
Mission - Heritage Missions
SPOT 2
SPOT 2, like all the SPOT missions, was aimed at supplying high-resolution, wide-area optical imagery.
Mission - Heritage Missions
SPOT 3
SPOT 3, like all the SPOT missions, was aimed at supplying high-resolution, wide-area optical imagery.
Mission - Heritage Missions
SPOT 4
SPOT 4, like all the SPOT missions, was aimed at supplying high-resolution, wide-area optical imagery.
Mission - Heritage Missions
SPOT 5
SPOT 5, like all the SPOT missions, was aimed at supplying high-resolution, wide-area optical imagery.
Mission - Third Party Missions
SPOT 6
SPOT 6, like all the SPOT missions, is aimed at supplying high-resolution, wide-area optical imagery.
Mission - Heritage Missions
SPOT 7
SPOT 7 (also known as Azersky), like all of the other SPOT missions, was aimed at supplying high-resolution, wide-area optical imagery.
Mission - Earth Explorers
FLEX
The FLEX mission will provide global maps of vegetation fluorescence, which can be converted into an indicator of photosynthetic activity.
Mission - Third Party Missions
ICEYE
As of June 2023, 27 X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites have been launched for the ICEYE constellation. This enables all-weather Earth observation.
Mission - Third Party Missions
Spire
Spire Global's constellation of Lemur nanosatellites offer satellite-based maritime, aviation and weather tracking.
Mission - Heritage Missions
NOAA POES
NOAA's AVHRR sensor is carried on the POES mission, a constellation of polar orbiting weather satellites.
Mission - Heritage Missions
RADARSAT
The RADARSAT programme consists of a pair of remote sensing satellites from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
Mission - Third Party Missions
TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X
The TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X satellites feature a unique geometric accuracy that is unmatched by any other spaceborne sensor.
Mission - Heritage 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.
Mission - Heritage Missions
Envisat
Envisat was ESA's successor to ERS. Envisat carried ten instruments aboard for a wide range of Earth observing fields. The mission was operational from 2002 to 2012.
Mission - Third Party Missions
PROBA-1
PROBA-1 is a technology demonstration satellite that later became an operational Earth observation mission.
Mission - Earth Explorers
GOCE
ESA's Gravity field and Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) mission mapped Earth's geoid very accurately, opening a window into Earth's interior structure as well as the currents circulating within the depths of its oceans.