OCO

Orbiting Carbon Observatory

Type

Orbiter

Launch

Feb. 24, 2009

Target

Earth

Objective

Measure carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere

Press Release: NASA’s Launch Of Carbon-Seeking Satellite is Unsuccessful

The OCO mission was to provide space-based observations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), the principal human-initiated driver of climate change. This mission used mature technologies to address NASA’s highest priority carbon cycle measurement requirement. The launch of OCO on February 24, 2009 was unsuccessful due to a launch vehicle failure. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO-2) is planned for a launch in mid 2014.

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NASA Investigation Uncovers Cause of Two Science Mission Launch Failures

News Release

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NASA Administrator Views Atmospheric Science Satellite, Meets Media in Arizona

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