Polaris Intelligence
Polaris
Intelligence
About
Ctrl K
Sign in
© Polaris Intelligence 2026
PrivacyTermsAdmin

Terra

active
Earth ObservationLEOCOSPAR 1999-068ALaunched 12/18/1999
Admin Edit
Mission & Launch
Launch Mission
Terra Mission
Launch Vehicle
Atlas IIAS
Launch Date
12/18/1999
Orbit & Mass
Orbit Class
LEO
Altitude
670.5 km
Inclination
98.24 deg
Dry Mass
4,854 kg
Total Mass
5,190 kg
Payload Classification
Mission Type
Earth Observation
Payload Category
IMG
Payload Class
C
Organizations
Operator
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Manufacturer
Lockheed Martin
Registry
COSPAR ID
1999-068A
UN Registration
ST/SG/SER.E/369
Track
Mentions
80
All verified mentions of this spacecraft in source documents.
0.0-5.0
Actions

The TERRA-M trials were funded by the United Kingdom’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.

FinancialPlanValue 4.5May 27, 2026Archangel Lightworks Completes Successful Trials for Miniature Deployable Optical Ground Station
Page2of4

The TERRA-M system completed multiple passes during the field trial to verify system reliability.

CapabilityPlanValue 2.0May 27, 2026Archangel Lightworks Completes Successful Trials for Miniature Deployable Optical Ground Station

Terra Nova will serve as an in-orbit testbed for payload technologies and operational concepts.

CapabilityPlanValue 2.5Apr 21, 2026NordSpace receives DND IDEaS Phase 1 funding for the Kestrel VLEO satellite constellation concept

Terra Nova is scheduled to fly on a SpaceX Transporter mission later in 2026.

PlanValue 3.5Apr 21, 2026NordSpace receives DND IDEaS Phase 1 funding for the Kestrel VLEO satellite constellation concept

NordSpace is preparing Terra Nova, its inaugural pathfinder satellite, as a precursor to the Kestrel constellation.

PlanGrowthValue 4.0Apr 21, 2026NordSpace receives DND IDEaS Phase 1 funding for the Kestrel VLEO satellite constellation concept

Terra Nova is a self-funded, dual-use demonstration mission.

GeneralCapabilityValue 2.3Apr 21, 2026NordSpace receives DND IDEaS Phase 1 funding for the Kestrel VLEO satellite constellation concept

Archangel Lightworks is commercializing TERRA-M, a miniaturized and deployable optical ground station.

CapabilityGeneralValue 4.0Apr 13, 2026Archangel Lightworks Secures £10M Series A to Scale Optical Ground Infrastructure

TERRA-M is designed to bridge the data bottleneck between space-based networks and terrestrial infrastructure.

CapabilityGeneralValue 2.0Apr 13, 2026Archangel Lightworks Secures £10M Series A to Scale Optical Ground Infrastructure

TERRA-M is designed to provide gigabit-per-second and future terabit-per-second laser link capabilities.

CapabilityValue 4.0Apr 13, 2026Archangel Lightworks Secures £10M Series A to Scale Optical Ground Infrastructure

Archangel Lightworks is targeting 2027 for widespread deployment of TERRA-M units to support commercial broadband constellations and government sovereign network requirements.

PlanGeneralValue 4.0Apr 13, 2026Archangel Lightworks Secures £10M Series A to Scale Optical Ground Infrastructure

TERRA-M is designed for rapid deployment and high-volume data backhaul for dual-use applications including climate monitoring and secure government communications.

CapabilityGeneralValue 3.7Apr 13, 2026Archangel Lightworks Secures £10M Series A to Scale Optical Ground Infrastructure

On 17 March 2026, NASA’s Terra satellite captured an image of the northern Barents Sea.

CapabilityGeneralValue 2.3Apr 5, 2026Mare di Barents registra minimo storico del ghiaccio

Peru obtained access to images from Spot 5, Spot 6, Pleiades 1a, Pleiades 1b, Terra SAR-X, and Tandem-X through the PeruSAT-1 acquisition contract.

RelationshipsValue 4.0Mar 30, 2026El satélite óptico PeruSAT-1 permite a Perú un ahorro de 634 millones de dólares

Using laser links between aircraft and geostationary satellites can enable integrated air-space-terra networks that provide high-speed data flows in complex operational contexts.

GeneralCapabilityValue 1.8Feb 26, 2026ESA realizza il primo laser gigabit aereo-satellite

Libera follows the heritage of the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) instruments, which began flying on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission in 1997 and later flew on Terra, Aqua, Suomi NPP, and NOAA 20.

CapabilityValue 3.5Feb 4, 2026NASA Libera payload completes testing for future Earth energy tracking mission

COUNTDOWN – DALLO SPAZIO ALLA TERRA won the Premio Luigi Broglio 2025 for scientific outreach in the space sector.

GeneralValue 2.0Jan 26, 2026Countdown torna su Sky TG24 con un focus sulla space economy

NordSpace will launch its Terra Nova CubeSat on SpaceX Transporter 18 in Q4 2026.

PlanGeneralValue 4.0Jan 20, 2026Record number of Canadian payloads set for launch in 2026 (Updated)

NASA captured a satellite image of fog in South Asia on January 6, 2026, using the MODIS sensor onboard the Terra satellite.

CapabilityGeneralValue 3.0Jan 11, 2026Nebbia sulla pianura indo-gangetica, l’analisi dei satelliti NASA

Terra-MODIS observations confirm the role of satellites in monitoring winter atmospheric phenomena on a regional scale.

CapabilityValue 2.1Jan 11, 2026Nebbia sulla pianura indo-gangetica, l’analisi dei satelliti NASA

NASA plans to retire its three major Earth Observing System flagship satellites—Terra, Aqua, and Aura—possibly as early as the end of 2026.

PlanGrowthValue 4.0Dec 30, 2025NASA Shutters ‘The Earth Observer’ Publication; EOS Flagships Face 2026 Retirement