Ice, Clouds and Land Elevation Satellite
NASA’s Ice, Clouds and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) was an Earth-orbiting mission that measured polar ice sheets, clouds, mountains, and forests with laser altimetry.
Follow this mission
Alerts are unavailable because this mission is no longer active.
Identity
- Aliases
- ICESatIce, Clouds and Land Elevation SatelliteICESat Mission
- Name
- Ice, Clouds and Land Elevation Satellite
- Status
- completed
Details
- Astronauts
- -
- Description
- NASA’s Ice, Clouds and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) was an Earth-orbiting mission that measured polar ice sheets, clouds, mountains, and forests with laser altimetry.
- Destination
- Near-polar low Earth orbit at approximately 600 km altitude (94° inclination; 97-minute period)
- Launch Site
- Outcome
- Launched January 13, 2003, ICESat began a multiyear record of ice-sheet elevation while also measuring clouds, aerosols, land topography, and vegetation.
- Programs
- Start Date
- 2003-01-13
- Vehicle Families
Links
- Official Url
- https://science.nasa.gov/mission/icesat/
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 14, 2026 at 19:04:11 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 21, 2026 at 09:43:16 UTC
Other
- Affiliations
- Space Stations
- -
- Vehicles