Landsat Next

Expected launch date: Late 2030 / Early 2031

About

Landsat Next, managed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), is expected to represent the next generation of satellite technology of Landsat satellites, with capabilities of collecting 26 bands, 15 more than the current operating Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 satellites. All bands will have higher spatial resolution with ground sample distances of 10 to 20 meters for near infrared and shortwave bands and 60 metres for atmospheric VSWIR and thermal infrared bands. Of the 26 bands, this will include 11 heritage bands, refined versions of the 11 Landsat bands, ten new visible shortwave spectral bands and three additional thermal bands. The Landsat Next constellation will provide 6 day temporal revisits compared to the current orbiting Landsat 8 and Landsat 9, which currently repeat every 16 days.

Cost effective

A great option for low-cost satellite imagery and geospatial data.

Creative Commons license

Available under a Creative Commons-like license that allows for free and open use.

Features and Benefits

• Landsat Next will have new measurement capabilities in comparison to previous Landsat satellites, allowing users to identify features and patterns that would have been missed previously from insufficient spectral resolutions.
• It will offer comprehensive global coverage, allowing monitoring of diverse geographic regions such as remote wilderness areas to urban centres.
• With new application features, it will allow new capabilities such as mineral mapping based on thermal emissivity, forest management, harmful algal bloom monitoring and many agricultural benefits.
• With three identical satellites in the constellation, revisit rates are vastly increased compared to previous Landsat satellites.
• The data from Landsat Next will continue the long-standing Landsat program tradition of providing consistent, long-term data series, which is essential for tracking environmental changes over time.