Landsat 1

Landsat 1
Landsat 1 in flight configuration with solar panels deployed after tests at the G.E. Valley Forge Plant.
Mission typeEarth imaging
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID1972-058A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.06126[1]
Mission duration5 years, 5 months and 14 days
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerGE Aerospace
Launch mass1,800 kilograms (4,000 lb)
Start of mission
Launch dateJuly 23, 1972 (1972-07-23)
RocketDelta 900
Launch siteVandenberg SLC-2W
End of mission
DisposalDecommissioned
DeactivatedJanuary 6, 1978 (1978-01-07)
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeSun-synchronous
Semi-major axis7,280 kilometres (4,520 mi)
Perigee altitude902 kilometers (560 mi)
Apogee altitude917 kilometers (570 mi)
Inclination99.1 degrees
Period117.04 minutes
EpochAugust 26, 1972[2]

Landsat 1 (LS-1), formerly named ERTS-A and ERTS-1, was the first satellite of the United States' Landsat program. It was a modified version of the Nimbus 4 meteorological satellite and was launched on July 23, 1972, by a Delta 900 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

It was the first satellite to carry a Multispectral Scanner.

The near-polar orbiting spacecraft served as a stabilized, Earth-oriented platform for obtaining information on agricultural and forestry resources, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water resources, geography, cartography, environmental pollution, oceanography and marine resources, and meteorological phenomena.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference nssdc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved June 16, 2013.