NASA, Caltech Partner on Two Earth Science Missions

NASA and Caltech have signed non-reimbursable Space Act Agreements for two Earth science missions on Aug. 14: Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) and Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3). The partnership will last up to five years with NASA maintaining ownership of both missions and Caltech operating the missions and science data systems, including creating new data products.

NASA issued the Announcement for Partnership Proposals on Jan. 8, and the International Space Station NASA Research Announcement on Aug. 11, 2025, to identify potential partnerships for the OCO‑2 and OCO‑3 missions, respectively.

In 2014, NASA launched the OCO-2 satellite with a prime mission of two years. The OCO-3 instrument was installed aboard the International Space Station in 2019 with a prime mission of three years. Both OCO-2 and OCO-3 have long outlasted their prime missions and continue to collect cutting-edge data. 

Public-private partnerships like this one enable the creation of new data products, strengthen national scientific capabilities, and demonstrate how novel, mission‑aligned collaborations can unlock breakthroughs that neither sector could achieve alone.  

To learn more about NASA Space Act Agreements, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/partnerships/current-space-act-agreements/