OCO
Orbiting Carbon Observatory
Type
Launch
Target
Objective
OCO was designed to make space-based observations of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere, to better understand the characteristics of climate change. However, the mission failed soon after launch when the launch vehicle's fairing did not separate from the spacecraft.
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.
