Revision History for Fact Sheet 2019-3008 Landsat 9 By U.S. Geological Survey ----------------------------------------------------- Posted online April 18, 2019 ----------------------------------------------------- Revised and reposted May 1, 2019, version 1.1 First sentence of third paragraph in "Landsat 9 Spacecraft and Launch Components" section was revised to clarify Landsat 9 will be decommissioned in May 2020. ----------------------------------------------------- Revised and reposted April 2, 2020, version 1.2 In the second paragraph, the first sentence was changed from "The Landsat 9 spacecraft and instruments are being developed towards a launch-readiness date of December 2020 (fig. 1)." to "The Landsat 9 spacecraft and instruments are being developed towards a launch-readiness date of March 2021 (fig. 1)." In the Quick Facts box, "Target launch date" was changed from "December 2020" to "March 2021." Figure 1 was replaced with an updated graphic. In the caption for figure 1, "lifecycle" was changed to "life cycle." ----------------------------------------------------- Revised and reposted August 3, 2022, version 1.3 In the first paragraph, the first two sentences were changed from "Landsat 9 is a partnership between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that will continue the Landsat program’s critical role of repeat global observations for monitoring, understanding, and managing Earth’s natural resources. Since 1972, Landsat data have provided..." to "Landsat 9 is a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that will continue the Landsat program’s critical role of repeat global observations for monitoring, understanding, and managing Earth’s natural resources since 1972. Landsat data provide..." The third sentence was changed from "Landsat images have also proved..." to "Landsat images also prove..." The last sentence was changed from "With the addition of Landsat 9, the Landsat program’s record of land imaging will be extended to over half a century." to "With the addition of Landsat 9, the Landsat program’s record of land imaging extends to more than half a century in 2022." In the "Landsat 9 Spacecraft and Launch Components" section, the first paragraph was changed from "The Landsat 9 spacecraft and instruments are being developed towards a launch-readiness date of mid-2021 (fig. 1). Landsat 9, like previous missions, will be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, onboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket. Landsat 9 will carry the Operational Land Imager-2 (OLI-2), built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation, Boulder, Colorado, and the Thermal Infrared Sensor-2 (TIRS-2), built at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. Northrop Grumman is designing and fabricating the spacecraft and will be responsible for integrating the two instruments." to "Landsat 9, like previous missions, was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, onboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket on September 27, 2021. Landsat 9 carries the Operational Land Imager (OLI), built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation, Boulder, Colorado, and the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), built at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. Northrop Grumman designed and fabricated the spacecraft and was responsible for integrating the two instruments." In the second paragraph, "U.S. Department of the Interior" was removed. The third paragraph was changed from "After launch, Landsat 9 will move into the current orbit of Landsat 7, which has sufficient fuel to operate into 2021, and will subsequently be decommissioned. Landsat 9 will image the Earth every 16 days in an 8-day offset with Landsat 8. Landsat 9 will collect as many as 750 scenes per day, and with Landsat 8, the two satellites will add nearly 1,500 new scenes a day to the USGS Landsat archive. Landsat 9 will increase the volume of the USGS archive by imaging all global landmasses and nearshore coastal regions, including islands at solar elevation angles greater than 5 degrees that were not always routinely collected prior to Landsat 8." to "Landsat 9, like previous missions, was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, onboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket on September 27, 2021. Landsat 9 carries the Operational Land Imager (OLI), built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation, Boulder, Colorado, and the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), built at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. Northrop Grumman designed and fabricated the spacecraft and was responsible for integrating the two instruments." In the "Quick Facts" table, "OLI-2" and "TIRS-2" were changed to "OLI" and "TIRS." The target launch date was changed from mid-2021 to September 27, 2021. Figure 1 was changed from an image showing the timeline of Landsat 9 mission development and life cycle to a Landsat 9 natural color image showing the Bay of Bengal. In the "Landsat 9 Instruments" section, the first paragraph was changed from "The instruments onboard Landsat 9 are improved replicas of those currently collecting data onboard Landsat 8, which are already providing data that is radiometrically and geometrically superior than instruments on previous generation Landsat satellites." to "The instruments onboard Landsat 9 are improved replicas of those onboard Landsat 8, providing data that are radiometrically and geometrically superior than instruments on previous generation Landsat satellites." The second paragraph was changed from "The OLI-2 will capture observations of the Earth’s surface in visible, near-infrared, and shortwave-infrared bands (table 1; fig. 2) with an improved radiometric precision (14-bit quantization increased from 12 bits for Landsat 8), slightly improving overall signal to noise ratio. The TIRS-2 will measure the thermal infrared radiation, or heat, of the Earth’s surface with two bands that have improved performance over Landsat 8’s thermal bands (table 1; fig. 2). Both OLI-2 and TIRS-2 have a 5-year mission design life, although the spacecraft has 10+ years of consumables." to "Landsat 9’s OLI captures observations of the Earth’s surface in visible, near-infrared, and shortwave-infrared bands (table 1; fig. 2) with an improved radiometric precision (14-bit quantization increased from 12 bits for Landsat 8), allowing sensors to detect more subtle differences, especially over darker areas such as water or dense forests. The TIRS measures the thermal infrared radiation, or heat, of the Earth’s surface with two bands that have improved performance over Landsat 8’s thermal bands (table 1; fig. 2). Both OLI and TIRS have a 5-year mission design life, although the spacecraft has 10+ years of consumables." In table 1, both instances of "Operational Land Imager-2" and "Thermal Infrared Sensor-2" were changed to "Operational Land Imager" and "Thermal Infrared Sensor." In figure 2, the labels were updated from "OLI/OLI-2" and "TIRS/TIRS-2" to "OLI" and "TIRS." In the caption, "Landsat 9" was changed to "Landsat 8-9." In the "Landsat 9 Data Products" section, the text was changed from "Data acquired by Landsat 9 will be consistent with currently archived data in terms of acquisition geometry, calibration, coverage, and spectral characteristics. All Landsat 9 data products will continue to be made available for download through the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center at no charge." to "Data acquired by Landsat 9 are consistent with currently archived Landsat data in terms of acquisition geometry, calibration, coverage, and spectral characteristics. All Landsat 9 data products are available for download through the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center at no charge." In the colophon, a USGS hyperlink was changed from "https://www.usgs.gov/land-resources/national-land-imaging-program" to "https://www.usgs.gov/programs/national-land-imaging-program." The organization was changed from "Landsat User Services" to "USGS EROS Customer Services." The Twitter handle (@USGSLandsat) was changed to the hyperlink (https://www.twitter.com/USGSLandsat). The Facebook hyperlink was changed from "https://www.facebook.com/NASA.Landsat" to "https://www.facebook.com/USGSLandsatProgram." An Instagram hyperlink was added. At the bottom of p. 2, a photograph showing the launch of Landsat 9 was added.