ICESat-2

Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite 2

active Mission

An artist’s rendering of the ICESat-2 satellite with a solar panel coming off to the right and lasers beaming to the Earth which curves across the bottom of the screen.

ICESat-2 measures the height of a changing Earth, one laser pulse at a time, 10,000 laser pulses a second.

Type

Orbiter

Launch

Sept. 15, 2018

Target

Earth

Objective

Measure the elevation of ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice and more

Experience Earth, our solar system, nearby asteroids, the universe, and the spacecraft exploring them with immersive real-time 3D web-based apps for Mac, PC and mobile devices. No download or sign up necessary.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/VTAD

ICESat-2 Stories

Explore All ICESat-2 (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2) Stories

Article

4 min read

That’s No Meteor: NASA Satellite’s Elusive Green Lasers Spotted at Work

Article

5 min read

Phytoplankton May Be Abundant Under Antarctic Sea Ice, Study Suggests

4 min read

NASA Ice Scientists Take Flight from Greenland to Study Melting Arctic Ice

Article2 years ago

5 min read

NASA Approves Continuation of ICESat-2 After 3+ Years of Big Results

Article2 years ago

5 min read

NASA Scientist Discovers New Means to Measure Snow Depth from Space

Article2 years ago

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