NASA Greenlights New Earth Missions

NASA announced the selection of two innovative satellite missions under its Earth System Explorers Program, aimed at enhancing our understanding of Earth and improving environmental forecasting and disaster mitigation capabilities. These missions, named STRIVE and EDGE, are set to advance to the next stage of development, with potential launches no earlier than 2030.

The STRIVE (Stratosphere Troposphere Response using Infrared Vertically-resolved light Explorer) mission, led by Lyatt Jaeglé from the University of Washington, will focus on providing daily, near-global, high-resolution atmospheric measurements. These include temperature, atmospheric elements, and aerosol properties from the upper troposphere to the mesosphere. STRIVE will notably enhance our capabilities in weather forecasting, crucial for protecting coastal communities where nearly half of the world’s population resides.

On the other hand, the EDGE (Earth Dynamics Geodetic Explorer) mission, spearheaded by Helen Amanda Fricker from the University of California San Diego, will observe the three-dimensional structure of terrestrial ecosystems and surface topography of glaciers, ice sheets, and sea ice. This mission aims to surpass the current data gathered by NASA’s existing satellites like ICESat-2 and GEDI, providing vital information on land and sea transportation corridors and terrain affecting commercial interests.

Each mission, with a budget cap of $355 million excluding launch costs, will undergo a confirmation review in 2027 to assess progress and fund availability. These initiatives are part of NASA’s commitment to leveraging the unique perspective of space to study Earth, support disaster response, and inform future space exploration, including the Artemis campaign to the Moon and missions to Mars.