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Available Datasets


CSDA offers access to data products from multiple commercial Earth observation data providers.  

An artist's rendering of a satellite in orbit above Earth.

NASA’s Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) program is the agency’s central mechanism for identifying, acquiring, and evaluating commercial Earth observation (EO) data. The program augments NASA’s and partner agencies’ observations by acquiring commercial satellite data that offer higher spatial resolution, increased revisit frequency, and complementary measurement capabilities. 

These data products allow NASA scientists and partners to observe Earth systems with enhanced detail and timeliness to improve research, disaster response, environmental monitoring, and associated applications across government and industry. 

Data Evaluation

NASA’s Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program ensures that commercial Earth observation data meet rigorous standards for Earth science research and applications through an evaluation process. NASA’s gold‑standard data assessments give commercial providers trusted validation that supports market growth and customer adoption.

Evaluation Criteria include:

● Data quality
● Usefulness Accessibility
● And other vendor characteristics

NASA’s evaluation process leverages the ESA–NASA Joint Earth Observation Mission Quality Assessment Framework. The is a shared approach that helps both agencies consistently review the quality of commercial satellite data. As more companies provide Earth‑observation imagery and products, ESA and NASA developed a joint framework to ensure that the data they may acquire meets trusted and transparent standards.

The data quality assessment and principal investigator evaluation reports are open access reports that are published and serve as a seal of approval.

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Data Summary

​CSDA provides access to high-resolution multispectral and hyperspectral data, digital elevation models, methane emission data, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), precipitation radar, and Global Navigation Satellite System Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO) data products from multiple commercial Earth Observation data providers.   

Available data


Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)

SAR can observe Earth's surface day and night through most weather conditions to support a wide range of science and applications.

Airbus SAR image

Airbus

Airbus provides synthetic aperture radar (SAR) Earth observation from its TerraSAR-X, TanDEM-X, and PAZ X-band radar satellites.

Capella

Capella provides high-resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data from its SAR satellite constellation and offers access to a growing archive of more than 30,000 SAR images collected since 2020.

A black-and-white synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite image captured in landscape orientation showing a frozen river system. A large, bright ice- and snow-covered landmass dominates the center and right of the frame, its edges defined by sharp contrast against dark surrounding water. Intricate drainage channels and surface texture are visible across the ice surface. Dark water areas in the lower left display swirling, layered patterns indicative of slow-moving or partially frozen flow. A small airstrip is visible on an island in the left portion of the frame.

ICEYE US

ICEYE US’s constellation of SAR satellites offer high-resolution Earth-observation data and imagery down to 25 cm resolution in near real-time and in a range of modes.

MDA Space

MDA Space operates the RADARSAT-2 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite, which offers 20 different beam modes and acquires data for a host of applications.

A mosaic of four SAR images collected by Umbra satellites shown in black-and-white. Top left corner showcases London, as the River Thames flows between the city scapes. The top right image is of the Antarctic, which pictures pieces of ice in various sizes breaking apart from what appears to be a glacier. The bottom left image is a high-resolution SAR image of the active volcano, Mount Ibu, in Indonesia. The bottom right image is New York City, which you can spot the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridge spanning across the East River waterfront.

Umbra

Umbra designs, manufactures, and operates a commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite constellation, providing high-resolution Spotlight and Scan imagery with resolutions as fine as 25 centimeters.

Multispectral / Electro-Optical Data

Multispectral satellite imagery captures light from across multiple electromagnetic wavelengths to reveal hidden environmental data like vegetation health, soil moisture, and mineral composition.

Airbus image of the Artemis spacecraft prior to launch.

Airbus

Airbus acquires optical imagery with its Pléiades Neo, Pléiades and SPOT satellites.

View of the Golden Gate Bridge from above, showing the reddish-brown bridge spanning between two pieces of land, with gray ocean covering most of the scene.

BlackSky

The BlackSky small satellite constellation offers high resolution imagery from mid-inclination orbit between +/- 53.5 degrees North and South latitude.

Planet Labs Multispectral image of Louisiana

Planet Labs

Planet distributes optical to near-infrared data acquired by its Doves, RapidEye, and SkySat satellite constellations.

Satellogic

Satellogic operates a vertically integrated constellation of high-resolution multispectral satellites that captures imagery in the visible (Blue, Green, Red) and Near-Infrared (NIR) spectral bands.

Multispectral Legion 5 image viewing of the Atchafalaya Delta using false color to show patterns of vegetation across coastal wetlands, river channels, and marsh ecosystems.

Vantor

Vantor offers very high resolution multispectral, 3D terrain and elevation data, and dynamic 2D basemaps through their WorldView-1, WorldView-2, WorldView-3, WorldView-4, GeoEye-1, QuickBird, and IKONOS satellites.

Methane Emissions

Methane emissions data are used to measure and track methane emissions released into the atmosphere during a specific time.

GHGSat

GHGSat has a constellation of small satellites that are capable of measuring methane emissions from point sources as small as landfills and individual oil and gas wells.

Precipitation Radar

Precipitation radar data allows forecasters to map storms, track precipitation in real-time, and estimate rainfall accumulation.

Tomorrow.io

Tomorrow.io's constellations of radar and microwave sounder satellites provide frequent and global observations of atmospheric and weather data to support accurate and timely forecasts.

Hyperspectral

Hyperspectral data are produced from a highly detailed form of remote sensing that captures images across hundreds of contiguous, narrow wavelength bands to identify the unique chemical signatures of materials.

Five panel Pixxel commercial satellite false-color imagery composites of the Ganga River Delta, India. These images showcase various RGB band combinations across the Visible and Near-Infrared spectrum that can be used to monitor both soil moisture and vegetation health.

Pixxel

Pixxel operates a constellation of high-resolution hyperspectral Earth observation satellites designed to deliver precise spectral measurements of Earth’s surface for frequent global monitoring.

Teledyne Brown Engineering

Teledyne Brown Engineering operates the German Aerospace Center Earth Sensing Imaging Spectrometer (DESIS), s a push broom, hyperspectral instrument currently installed on the International Space Station.

Digital Elevation Models

Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) provide quantitative, georeferenced measurements of elevation (such as height and slope) over a given area.

Image of a costal area from a Airbus Digital Elevation Model.

Airbus

Airbus DEMs are product suite provides topography and surface models for GIS, defense, aviation, and infrastructure planning.

Vantor

Vantor's DEM product suite provides precise 3D surface and bare-earth terrain data for applications like urban planning, disaster mitigation, and network modeling.

Navigation and Radio Occultation

Radio occultation (RO) is a remote sensing technique that uses navigation satellite signals to assess characteristics of Earth's atmosphere and calculate precise, high-resolution vertical profiles of temperature, pressure, and humidity.

A visualization of GeoOptics data.

GeoOptics

GeoOptics operated the Community Initiative for Cellular Earth Remote Observation constellation of Earth observing nanosatellites from late 2018 to January 2022, providing radio occultation data products from their Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO) receivers.

PlanetiQ image showing GNNS RO data visualization of atmospheric conditions

PlanetiQ

PlanetiQ provides Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Radio Occultation (RO) data to support weather and climate forecasting and modeling, as well as space weather.

Spire

Spire Global Subsidiary, Inc., (Spire) designs, builds, and operates a growing constellation of over 100 3U Low Earth Multi-Use Receiver (LEMUR) small satellites designed to collect radio frequency signals from Low Earth Orbit.

Authorized Data Use and Users 

Access to the commercial data available through the CSDA program is governed by CSDA End User License Agreements (EULAs). The minimum access level for data is the USG license. Depending on the specific data products provided, some or all data may also be available under higher-tier CSDA licenses, including USG Plus and Public licenses. 

Under the applicable license tier, authorized users may include: 

● U.S. Government federal employees
● State, local, territorial, and tribal government personnel
● U.S. Government contractors and subcontractors
● U.S. Government–funded researchers and academic partners
● Other users authorized under applicable CSDA license levels (USG, USG Plus, or Public)

All data use must comply with the terms of the EULA. All data requests must be reviewed and approved by NASA’s CSDA program. 

Learn more about the CSDA licenses.

Become an Authorized Data User 

Researchers, government personnel (federal, state, local), tribal governments, and eligible partners can request access to CSDA data by completing the CSDA Data Authorization Form. Once approved, users may request archived or taskable commercial EO data under the applicable license tier. 

Data Access 

Search and download data using the CSDA Satellite Data Explorer (SDX). An Earthdata Login is required.