NASA Earth Observation Satellites, the 2024 Earth Fleet Chart

Key points from the Earth Fleet chart

• The chart shows 34 free flying NASA Earth science missions, 7 instruments on the International Space Station, 6 CubeSats and 4 instruments on JPSS weather satellites.
• Missions are placed on a spiral timeline that starts near 2000 with Landsat 7, Terra and Aqua and runs past 2025 towards 2030.
• Of the 34 missions, 13 are marked extended, 7 operating, 8 in implementation and 6 in (pre) formulation.
• Five later missions carry the Earth System Observatory symbol: GRACE-C, SBG-TIR, SBG-VSWIR, PMM and AOS Sky.
• All details are from the graphic, a NASA Earth Science Division chart dated 09.11.2024.

NASA Earth observation satellites on the chart, in text

The chart is titled “Earth Fleet” and carries the NASA logo and “NASA earth” wordmark. Status key: extended, operating, implementation and (pre) formulation. Other symbols mark international partners, a US partner, ISS instruments, JPSS instruments, CubeSats, launch date TBD and Earth System Observatory missions. A number in brackets is the number of spacecraft.

Missions

Instruments on the International Space Station

CubeSats and JPSS instruments

How the fleet began

NASA has been building its Earth observation programme since the early 1970s. Wikipedia’s article on the Earth Observing System says NASA launched a series of Landsat satellites in that decade, and that the Nimbus 5 satellite of 1972 used passive microwave imaging to track changes in sea ice. The programme itself was conceived in the late 1980s and expanded rapidly through the 1990s [2]. The first Landsat, then called the Earth Resources Technology Satellite, launched on 23 July 1972 and was renamed Landsat 1 in 1975. Landsat, run jointly by NASA and the USGS, is the longest running programme of satellite imagery of Earth [3].

The oldest missions still on the chart, Landsat 7, Terra and Aqua, sit at the start of the spiral near 2000. NASA’s Earth science missions page describes several of them: Aqua collects data about Earth’s water cycle, CYGNSS uses eight micro-satellites to measure wind speeds over the oceans, and GRACE-FO succeeds the original GRACE mission, which orbited Earth from 2002 to 2017 [1].

Notes on this infographic

• Snapshot date. The chart is dated 09.11.2024 and shows each mission’s status at that point. Some have moved on since. NISAR, shown in implementation, was launched by ISRO on 30 July 2025 [4].
• No launch dates. Apart from the CubeSats and JPSS instruments, the chart gives no years. Positions on the spiral are approximate.
• Counts. The mission and status counts in the key points are our own count of the chart.
• Not a complete history. Ended missions such as Landsat 1 do not appear. The chart shows the fleet as of 2024 and planned missions.

Questions about NASA Earth observation satellites

How many satellites does NASA have for Earth observation?

This September 2024 chart shows 34 Earth science missions, made up of 13 extended and 7 operating missions plus 14 still being built or planned. Several use more than one spacecraft, such as the 8 CYGNSS satellites. It also lists 7 ISS instruments.

When did NASA begin collecting satellite data of Earth?

NASA’s Earth Observing System grew from satellites launched in the early 1970s, including Landsat 1 (launched as the Earth Resources Technology Satellite on 23 July 1972) and Nimbus 5 [2][3].

What current space missions are there?

For Earth science, the chart lists 20 missions in orbit as of 2024, from Landsat 7, Terra and Aqua to newer missions such as SWOT, TEMPO and PACE, plus 6 instruments working on the ISS.

Sources

1. NASA Science, Earth Science Missions.
2. Wikipedia, Earth Observing System.
3. Wikipedia, Landsat program.
4. Wikipedia, NISAR (satellite).

Last reviewed 29 October 2026