Landsat 9
A view of Earth's changing landscapes. Landsat 9 turns repeated observations of the same places into a record that helps people understand changes in land and water.
- Launch date
- September 27, 2021
- International designator
- 2021-088A
- Mission partners
- NASA and USGS
- Reference orbit
- Near-polar · sun-synchronous
- Imaging instruments
- OLI-2 and TIRS-2
- Repeat cycle
- 16 days for Landsat 9
What does Landsat 9 measure?
Landsat 9 carries two complementary instruments: the Operational Land Imager 2 and the Thermal Infrared Sensor 2. Together they collect information about Earth's surface across several parts of the spectrum, rather than simply taking an ordinary colour photograph.
The observations support work such as monitoring forests, water quality and crop conditions. Landsat's long record makes repeated measurements particularly useful: researchers can compare how a landscape changes over time.
Why does the orbit matter?
NASA describes Landsat 9's reference orbit as near-polar and sun-synchronous, at about 705 kilometres, with a 16-day repeat cycle. Those are mission reference values, not a reading of its altitude at this instant.
The satellite launched on an Atlas V 401 on September 27, 2021. NASA and USGS share responsibilities for the mission, with USGS responsible for operations and the data archive after commissioning.
What the tracker shows
Follow Landsat 9 in the tracker to explore its predicted route around Earth. The globe shows the spacecraft's position, not a live photograph from its instruments. A nearby ground track alone does not establish that it imaged a particular house or person. Open Upcoming Passes for an observer-specific horizon forecast.
Choose Track live to open this exact NORAD ID on the globe. From there you can open Info, inspect TLE data, explore the charts or calculate upcoming passes. Sign in and tap the star to keep the satellite in your existing favorites.
Open Landsat 9 in the tracker