Interest in climate research through the use of satellites began in the 1960s and early 1970s through space probes studying other planets. During the economic decline in 1977, with other planets hostile to human life and the shuttle program the new focus, the Regan administration proposed to reduce spending on planetary exploration. During this time, new scientific evidence emerged from ice and sediment cores that earth's climate have experienced rapid changes in temperature contrary to the previously held belief that the climate remained slow-changing, these changes produced political interest.

Name	Status	Agency	Launch	Description
ACRIMSAT	Active	NASA NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...	1999	studies sun's infrared to ultraviolet output.http://nasascience.nasa.gov/missions/acrimsat/
Aqua Aqua (satellite) Aqua is a multi-national NASA scientific research satellite in orbit around the Earth, studying the precipitation, evaporation, and cycling of water. It is the second major component of the Earth Observing System preceded by Terra and followed by Aura .The name "Aqua" comes from the Latin word...	Active	NASA	2002	carries six instruments to observe interactions among the four sphere's for earth's systems: oceans, land, atmosphere, and biosphere.http://aqua.nasa.gov/
AQUARIUS Aquarius (satellite) Aquarius is a NASA instrument aboard the Argentine SAC-D spacecraft. Its mission is to measure global sea surface salinity to better predict future climate conditions...	Planned	NASA & Space Agency of Argentina	2010	measures salt concentrations in ocean surface needed to understand heat transport and storage in the ocean.http://aquarius.nasa.gov/
AURA AURA AURA commonly refers to:* Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy* Atlas of UTR Regulatory Activity, the Atlas of UTR Regulatory Activity...	Active	NASA	2004	studies earth's ozone, air quality, and climate though observation of composition, chemistry, and dynamics of the atmosphere.http://aura.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html
CALIPSO CALIPSO CALIPSO is a joint NASA and CNES environmental satellite, built in the Cannes Mandelieu Space Center, which was launched atop a Delta II rocket on April 28, 2006. Its name stands for Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations...	Active	NASA	2006	studies thickness of clouds and aerosols for understanding of how much air pollution is present and changes in compositions in the atmophere.http://www-calipso.larc.nasa.gov/
CloudSat CloudSat CloudSat is a NASA Earth observation satellite, which was launched on a Delta II rocket on 28 April 2006. It uses radar to measure the altitude and properties of clouds, adding to information on the relationship between clouds and climate in order to help resolve questions about global warming...	Active	NASA/Canada	2006	monitors the state of earth's atmosphere and weather through radar, which can be used to predict which clouds produce rain, observe snowfall, and monitor the moisture content of clouds.http://cloudsat.atmos.colostate.edu/
Deep Space Climate Observatory	Planned	NASA		To study the Sun-lit side of Earth from the L1 Lagrange point
EarthCARE EarthCARE EARTHCARE is a planned space mission by the European and Japanese space agencies. In May 2008 ESA signed a contract worth €263 million with EADS subsidiary Astrium. As the prime contractor, Astrium is responsible for the satellite’s design, development and integration...	Planned	ESA/JAXA	2013	EarthCARE - Study of clouds and aerosols. http://www.esa.int/esaLP/ASESMYNW9SC_LPearthcare_0.html
Earth Observing-1 Earth Observing-1 The Earth Observing-1 Mission is part of NASA's New Millennium Program , to develop and validate a number of instrument and spacecraft bus breakthrough technologies designed to enable the development of future earth imaging observatories that will have a significant increase in performance while...  (NMP)	Active	NASA	2001	carrying land-imaging technology, used to demonstrate new instruments and spacecraft systems for future missions.http://eo1.gsfc.nasa.gov/
GLOBAL PRECIPITATION MEASUREMENT	Planned	NASA	2013	studies global precipitation.http://gpm.gsfc.nasa.gov/
GLORY Glory (satellite) The Glory satellite was a planned NASA satellite mission that would have collected data on the chemical, micro-physical and optical properties—and the spatial and temporal distributions—of sulfate and other aerosols, and would have collected solar irradiance data for the long-term climate record...	Planned	NASA	2010	studies aerosols, including black carbon, in addition to solar irradiance for the long-term effects.http://glory.gsfc.nasa.gov/
GOES I - M GOES 12 GOES 12, known as GOES-M before becoming operational is an American weather satellite, which is part of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system. It was launched in 2001, and it is in standby orbit...	Active	NASA	2001	monitors and forecasts weather for NOAA.http://goespoes.gsfc.nasa.gov/
GRACE Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment The Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment , a joint mission of NASA and the German Space Agency, has been making detailed measurements of Earth's gravity field since its launch in March 2002....	Active	NASA and German Space Agency	2002	observes and measures earth's gravitational field, which may help determining the shape and composition of the planet's distribution of water and ice.http://grace.jpl.nasa.gov/
ICESat ICESat ICESat , part of NASA's Earth Observing System, was a satellite mission for measuring ice sheet mass balance, cloud and aerosol heights, as well as land topography and vegetation characteristics...	Active	NASA	2003	keeps track of size and thickness of earth's ice sheetes.http://icesat.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Jason-1	Active	NASA	2001	uses microwaves to monitor the height of water of earth's oceans.http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/
LAGEOS LAGEOS LAGEOS, or Laser Geodynamics Satellites, are a series of scientific research satellites designed to provide an orbiting laser ranging benchmark for geodynamical studies of the Earth...  1&2	Active	NASA	1976	LAGEOS 1 launched in 1976, LAGEOS 2, launched in 1992 used for orbiting benchmark for geodynamical studies.http://ilrs.gsfc.nasa.gov/satellite_missions/list_of_satellites/lag1_general.html
Landsat-7	Active	NASA	1999	takes digital images of earth's coastal areas with global coverage on a seasonal basis.http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/
OSTM Ocean Surface Topography Mission The Ocean Surface Topography Mission on the Jason-2 satellite is an international Earth observation satellite mission that continues the sea surface height measurements begun in 1992 by the joint NASA/CNES TOPEX/Poseidon mission and followed by the NASA/CNES Jason-1 mission launched in 2001.Like...  (JASON-2)	Active	NASA	2008	a Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM) used to monitor the height of water of earth's ocean, which help understand weather patterns such as El Nino and formations of hurricanes.http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/noaa-n/main/index.html
QuikSCAT QuikSCAT The QuikSCAT is an earth-observing satellite that provided estimates of wind speed and direction over the oceans to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and others. This "quick recovery" mission intended to replace the NASA Scatterometer , which failed in June 1997...	Active	NASA	1997	monitors weather using bursts of microwaves which measure wind speeds.http://topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html
SEASTAR (SEAWIFS SeaWiFS SeaWiFS stands for Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor. It was the only scientific instrument on GeoEye's OrbView-2 satellite, and was a follow-on experiment to the Coastal Zone Color Scanner on Nimbus 7... )	Active	NASA	1997	designed to monitor the color of earth's oceans.http://winds.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/quikscat/index.cfm
SMAP Soil Moisture Active and Passive mission The Soil Moisture Active Passive mission is in the first tier of missions recommended for NASA by the Earth Science Decadal Survey. It is one of the first Earth observation satellites being developed by NASA in response to the National Research Council’s Decadal Survey...	Planned	NASA	2013	measures soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state, which enhance understanding of processes that link water, energy, and carbon cycles to extend the capabilities of weather and climate models.http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/SeaWiFS/SEASTAR/SPACECRAFT.htmlhttp://clarreo.larc.nasa.gov/
SORCE SORCE The Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment is a NASA-sponsored satellite mission that provides state-of-the-art measurements of incoming X-ray, ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared, and total solar radiation...	Active	NASA	2003	monitors total output from the sun for understanding of earth's absorption of radiation energy.http://smap.jpl.nasa.gov/
TERRA Terra - Astronomy :* Earth* Terra , a multi-national NASA scientific research satellite* Terrae as extensive land masses found on various solar system bodies** List of terrae on Mars** List of terrae on Venus** Terrae, a highland on the Moon- Latin :...	Active	NASA/Canada/Japan	1990	carries five instruments to observe the state of the atmosphere, land, and oceans, as well as their interactions with solar radiation and with one another.http://lasp.colorado.edu/sorce/index.htm
TRMM	Active	NASA	1997	carries give instruments which uses radar and sensors of visible infrared light to closely monitor precipitation.http://terra.nasa.gov/
CLARREO	Proposed	NASA		Measures solar radiation, spectrally resolved forcing and response of climate.http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/
ICESat-II	Planned	NASA	2015	Measure ice sheet height changes for climate change diagnoses. http://smap.jpl.nasa.gov/http://icesat.gsfc.nasa.gov/icesat2/index.php
DESDynI	Proposed	NASA		Measures surface and ice sheet deformation to determine natural hazards of climate.http://icesat.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.php
HyspIRI	Proposed	NASA		Minors land surface composition for agriculture and mineral characterization for ecosystem health.http://desdyni.jpl.nasa.gov/
ASCENDS	Proposed	NASA		Measures the number density of CO2 in a column of beneath the craft in addition to ambient temperature and pressure.http://hyspiri.jpl.nasa.gov/
SWOT	Proposed	NASA		Tracks ocean, lake, river levls.http://esto.nasa.gov/conferences/estc2008/presentations/RirisB8P4.pdf
GEO-CAPE	Proposed	NASA		Monitors atmospheric gas columns for air-quality forecasts.http://bprc.osu.edu/water/index.php
ACE	Proposed	NASA		Using lidar, creates aerosol and cloud profiles.http://decadal.gsfc.nasa.gov/documents/ACE_Technology_Investments.pdf
LIST	Proposed	NASA		Measure surface topography to look for landslide hazard and water runoffs.http://decadal.gsfc.nasa.gov/documents/ACE_Technology_Investments.pdf
PATH	Proposed	NASA		Performs high-frequency, all-weather and humidity soundings for weather forecastings.http://eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/eos_homepage/mission_profiles/show_mission.php?id=82
GRACE-II	Proposed	NASA		Measures Earth's gravity field in order to track large scale water movement.http://eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/eos_homepage/mission_profiles/show_mission.php?id=83
SCLP	Proposed	NASA		Measures snow accumulation for fresh water availability.http://eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/eos_homepage/mission_profiles/show_mission.php?id=84
GACM	Proposed	NASA		Monitors ozone and related gases for intercontinental air quality and stratospheric ozone layer prediction.http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007AGUFM.A12A..08L
3D-Winds	Proposed	NASA		Monitor tropospheric winds for weather forecasting and pollution transport.http://decadal.gsfc.nasa.gov/3dwinds.html