Since the launch of the first Earth Resources Technology
Satellite—later renamed Landsat 1—in 1972, the Landsat program has provided the
world with the longest continuous record of Earth’s land surfaces and coastal
regions. Over five decades, these satellites have captured critical data used
by scientists, policymakers, and resource managers to monitor environmental
change, manage agriculture, respond to natural disasters, and understand urban
growth. As the program moves beyond Landsat 9, you are now entering a new era
of land imaging with the initiation of the Landsat Next mission.
Sustainable Land Imaging
Following the successful 2013 launch of Landsat 8 and during
the development of Landsat 9, NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began
planning for the long-term sustainability of the program. Recognizing the need
for a strategic approach to future Earth observations, the two agencies formed
the Joint Agency Sustainable Land Imaging Architecture Study Team in
September 2018. This team was tasked with evaluating user needs and developing
a forward-looking acquisition strategy for the post-Landsat 9 era.
The study culminated in a set of recommendations delivered
in December 2019, with “Roadmap 1” emerging as the top priority.
Roadmap 1
This vision called for a small constellation of advanced,
“superspectral” sensors that would significantly enhance spectral, spatial, and
temporal resolution while maintaining rigorous calibration standards.
Crucially, Roadmap 1 emphasized continuity—ensuring new data remains compatible
with the decades-long archive housed at the USGS Earth Resources Observation
and Science Center.
Landsat Next
In April 2020, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center received
authorization to proceed with Landsat Next, aligned with the Roadmap 1
framework. The mission is designed to meet the core objective of the Landsat
program: providing global, synoptic, and repetitive multispectral imagery at a
scale capable of detecting and characterizing both natural and human-induced
changes over time. This goal supports longstanding U.S. policy under the Land
Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992 and the Commercial Space Act of 1998, which
mandate the sustained delivery of consistent, high-quality land imaging data.
Landsat Next will build upon the successful collaboration
model between NASA and USGS. NASA will lead the development of the space
segment, including spacecraft and instruments, and handle launch
operations. The USGS will maintain responsibility for the ground system, data
processing, archiving, and distribution—ensuring seamless access to data for
users worldwide.
With an enhanced observational capacity, Landsat Next aims
to deliver more frequent revisits, broader spectral coverage, and improved
spatial detail. These advancements will allow you to monitor dynamic
environmental processes—such as deforestation, drought, glacier retreat, and
land-use change—with greater precision and timeliness than ever before.
As climate change and human activity continue to reshape the
planet, the need for reliable, long-term Earth observation has never been
greater. Landsat Next represents a critical step forward in sustaining and
modernizing the global land imaging program. Through continued innovation and
interagency cooperation, the mission will ensure that the legacy of Landsat
remains not only preserved but also advanced for future generations of
scientists, decision-makers, and stewards of the Earth.
The Landsat Next mission will be a constellation of three
identical observatories, referred to as “triplets,” with equal orbit spacing.
Each observatory images the full swath required to achieve global coverage,
with the use of three observatories to reduce revisit time for any scene.
More Affordable Ways
When you visit NASA’s Landsat Next website, you’re greeted
with a message that hints at the project’s evolving priorities: “The Landsat
Next project is currently assessing alternate mission architectures to support
more affordable ways to maintain the continuity of Landsat imagery per the
language in the Fiscal Year 2026 President’s Budget Request. Updates will be
forthcoming.”
.jpg)
