The ninth satellite is designed to replace Landsat 7, which was launched in April 1999
NEW YORK, September 27. /TASS/. The Earth remote sensing satellite from the Landsat series has been successfully put into orbit. This was reported on Monday on Twitter by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
As noted in the publication, the satellite was launched into low-Earth orbit around 15: 38 on the time of the East Coast of the United States (22: 38 Moscow time). The launch of the Atlas V launch vehicle was carried out about an hour and a half earlier from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The launch was originally planned for September 23, but was postponed due to weather conditions.
The continuous study of the Earth's surface from orbit - a joint project of NASA and the US Geological Survey-has been going on since 1972, when Landsat 1 was launched. The ninth satellite is intended to replace Landsat 7, which was launched in April 1999. It will be placed in the same orbit with a height of approximately 705 km, which will make it easier to calibrate the onboard instruments. It is assumed that Landsat 9 will transmit over 700 images every day.