Flight Program

Artist's concept of Sentinel-6A/Jason-CS mission — The Sentinel-6A satellite, which NASA and several partners have renamed in honor of noted Earth scientist Michael Freilich.
ESA/NASA› Larger view

Part of the SWOT satellite’s science instrument payload sits in a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory during assembly. By measuring the height of the water in the planet's ocean, lakes, and rivers, researchers can track the volume and location of the finite resource around the world.
NASA/JPL-Caltech

PACE Launch photo — Photo. NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, successfully lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 1:33 AM EST February 8, 2024. PACE is NASA’s newest Earth-observing satellite that will help increase our understanding of Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and climate by delivering hyperspectral observations of microscopic marine organisms called phytoplankton, as well as new data on clouds and aerosols. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

About Us

The Flight Program team builds and operates the satellite and airborne missions that deliver critical measurements and data to the world’s science community.

Flight mission development ― from advanced concept studies, to flight hardware development, to on-orbit operation ― is managed within the Earth Systematic Missions (ESM), Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP), and Earth System Explorers (ESE) Programs.

Flight Programs

Earth Systematic Missions (ESM)

ESM develops satellite missions aimed at understanding Earth’s response to natural and human-induced changes. Set and directed by NASA, these missions have expanded significantly over the past 15 years, providing invaluable insight and climate data records.

Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) 

ESSP competitively selects low- to moderate-cost projects focusing on emerging scientific priorities and measurement capabilities. This includes Earth Venture projects that develop new instruments, conduct airborne and field research, and build satellites for full mission engagements.

Earth System Explorers (ESE)

The ESE program is designed to enable high-quality Earth system science investigations through competitively selected missions that acquire and deliver measurements of one or more observables identified in the 2017 Decadal Survey as Earth System Explorer Targeted Observables

Other Flight Operations

 The Airborne Science Program

 The Airborne Science Program provides manned and unmanned aircraft used in research campaigns to observe Earth’s changes, obtain data for modeling activities, test and refine new instrument technology, and calibrate satellite instruments.

Senior Reviews

Senior Reviews, Including the 2023 full report, assess the value of and steer determination on the continued operation of a mission after the planned performance period.

Current Earth Fleet

An image showing Earth from space at a distance, superimposed over the surrounding space are images and names of the current and planned satellites NASA's Earth division will use to observe the planet.

NASA's Earth observing fleet as of 10.31.24