https://www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/end-era-historic-landsat-7-mission-takes-final-images Skip to main content U.S. flag An official website of the United States government Here's how you know Here's how you know Dot gov Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Https Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Home U.S. Geological Survey * Science + Science Explorer o Biology o Climate o Coasts o Energy o Environmental Health o Geology o Information Systems o Maps and Mapping o Minerals o Methods and Analysis o Natural Hazards o Ocean o Planetary Science o Science Technology o Water + Mission Areas o Core Science Systems o Ecosystems o Energy and Minerals o Natural Hazards o Water Resources + Programs + Regions o Northeast Region o Southeast Region o Midcontinent Region o Rocky Mountain Region o Southwest Region o Alaska Region o Northwest-Pacific Islands Region + Science Centers + Observatories + Laboratories + Frequently Asked Questions + Educational Resources + Special Topics + USGS Celebrates the Year of Open Science * Products + Data o Data Management o Data Releases o Real-time Data o All Data + Maps o Geologic Maps o Map Releases o Topographic (Topo) Maps o Volcanic Maps o All Maps + Multimedia Gallery o Audio o Images o Stereograms o Videos o Webcams o All Multimedia + Publications + Web Tools o Alert and Notification Services o APIs o Data Access Tools o Data Analysis Tools o Data Visualizations o Interactive Maps o All Web Tools + Software + U.S. Board on Geographic Names + The National Map + USGS Library + USGS Store + Park Passes * News + News Releases o National News Releases o State News Releases o All News Releases + Featured Stories + Science Snippets + Technical Announcements + Employees in the News + Get Our News + Media Contacts + Newsletters + I'm a Reporter o Earthquake Questions o Request Footage o Multimedia Gallery * Connect + Headquarters o 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive Reston, VA 20192 + Locations + Staff Profiles + Social Media + Careers + Contact Us o 1-888-392-8545 o Live Chat o Email o USGS Store 1-888-275-8747 * About + About Us o Who We Are o Our History o Past Directors + Survey Manual + Key Officials o Organizational Chart + Organization o Mission Areas o Programs o Regions o Science Centers o Observatories o Laboratories o Science Support Offices + Congressional o Statements o Contacts + Budget + Careers and Employees + Diversity and Equal Opportunity + Doing Business o Acquisition and Financial Assistance o Partners and Cooperators o Building Partnerships + Emergency Management * Facebook * Twitter * Linkedin * Digg * Reddit * Pinterest * Email Latest Earthquakes | Chat Share Social Media [ ] Label[] Menu [ ] Label[] Close U.S. Geological Survey * Science + Science Explorer + Mission Areas + Programs + Regions + Science Centers + Observatories + Laboratories + Frequently Asked Questions + Educational Resources + Special Topics + USGS Celebrates the Year of Open Science * Products + Data + Maps + Multimedia Gallery + Publications + Web Tools + Software + U.S. Board on Geographic Names + The National Map + USGS Library + USGS Store + Park Passes * News + News Releases + Featured Stories + Science Snippets + Technical Announcements + Employees in the News + Get Our News + Media Contacts + Newsletters + I'm a Reporter * Connect + Headquarters + Locations + Staff Profiles + Social Media + Careers + Contact Us * About + About Us + Survey Manual + Key Officials + Organization + Congressional + Budget + Careers and Employees + Diversity and Equal Opportunity + Doing Business + Emergency Management * Latest Earthquakes * Live WebChat * Share Social Media + Facebook + Twitter + Linkedin + Digg + Reddit + Pinterest + Email Breadcrumb 1. National News Release Breadcrumb 1. National News Release End of an era: Historic Landsat 7 mission takes final images Retiring satellite makes way for upcoming enhanced science mission By Communications and Publishing September 19, 2024 RESTON, Va. -- After more than 132,000 trips around the Earth and more than 3.3 million satellite images under its belt, the work of the Landsat 7 satellite is complete, even as the Landsat science mission continues with newer satellites. A joint mission between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA, Landsat 7 was initially designed for a five-year mission. Beating the odds, the satellite observed the Earth for a quarter-century, delivering invaluable scientific data for the benefit of all humanity. Illustration of Landsat 7 in orbit Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details Illustration of Landsat 7 in orbit Landsat 7 captured one of its final images on May 28 over Las Vegas, Nevada. Las Vegas, 1999 Las Vegas, 2024 Show only left Show only right Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details Download Images These Landsat 7 images showcase the first and last captures of the Las Vegas area, taken on July 4, 1999, and May 28, 2024, respectively. The images highlight the city, the surrounding desert landscape, and Lake Mead, using shortwave infrared (SWIR), near-infrared (NIR), and red bands to emphasize differences in vegetation, water, and urban growth. The final image, marking the satellite's 25th anniversary, stands as a tribute to Landsat 7's quarter-century legacy of Earth observation. Since its launch on April 15, 1999, Landsat 7 provided a wealth of imagery, enabling scientists, policymakers, and conservationists to track changes in land use, natural disasters, and environmental degradation with unprecedented accuracy. color photo of Landsat 7 launch Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details Landsat 7 was successfully launched on April 15, 1999, from the Western Test Range of Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on a Delta II expendable launch vehicle. "Landsat 7 data have been pivotal in documenting environmental changes such as natural disasters, deforestation, and urban growth over its 25 years," said David Applegate, USGS Director. "Notably capturing significant events like Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Haiti earthquake in 2010, the Australian bushfires in 2019 - 2020, the dramatic growth of cities worldwide and more through its long-standing mission." A view from Landsat 7 satellite of 9/11 smoke across the land. Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details This true-color image was taken by the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) sensor aboard the Landsat 7 satellite on September 12, 2001, at roughly 11:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Savings Time. A day after the attack, smoke continues to billow out of the collapsed Twin Towers. Satellite image showing damage from Katrina. Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details These Landsat 7 images show the damage that New Orleans, Louisiana, received as a result of Hurricane Katrina. The data have proven to be a useful asset as the foundation for countless studies, enhancing our understanding of agriculture, water resources, and wildland fires. By providing consistent data every eight days in conjunction with Landsat 5 until 2012, Landsat 7 improved our ability to monitor seasonal changes. Thanks to operational enhancements, Landsat 7 nearly doubled the daily data collected, from 250 to 450 scenes. The Land Imaging Satellite that Could When it was launched, Landsat 7 featured the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) sensor, which built upon and improved the capabilities of its predecessors, the Thematic Mapper (TM) sensor used on Landsat 4 and Landsat 5. As an eight-band, multispectral scanning radiometer, the ETM+ offered improvements over previous sensor technology including a 15-meter spatial resolution panchromatic band and 60-meter resolution thermal band. Landsat 7 First Light Image, April 1999 Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details This color infrared image of Southeast South Dakota was advertised as the first image acquired by Landsat 7's Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) sensor on April 18, 1999. The Missouri River flows from the middle left of the image, to the lower right, where the Fort Randall Dam creates Lake Francis Case. However, four years after Landsat 7's launch, a piece of equipment known as the Scan Line Corrector failed on the ETM+, impacting the satellite's ability to capture complete images of the Earth's surface. This led to "striping," or gaps in its data. Despite the setback, 78 percent of a scene's pixels are still usable and are considered some of the world's most geometrically and radiometrically accurate civilian satellite data. A Landsat 7 SLC-off Scene Example Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details A Landsat 7 SLC-off Scene Example Landsat 7 went on to produce images for five times its expected operational lifespan. The Legacy of Landsat 7 -- Citations in Policy & Publications Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details For 25 years, the Landsat 7 satellite acquired millions of images of Earth that supported studies of how land is used and how it has changed across urban, agriculture, forest, snow and ice-covered areas around the globe, as well as natural and manmade disasters. As the mission comes to a close, we look back at the magnitude and impact that Landsat 7 imagery brought to scientists and those interested in studying the Earth's landmasses: Over 5,000 scientific publications in 21 languages across 143 different countries152 of the articles have received a news, blog, and/or patent mention1,414 policy documents across 54 countries that cite 749 journal articles Earth As Art image Whirlpool in the Air Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details This image captured by Landsat 7 shows a spinning formation of ice, clouds, and low-lying fog off the eastern coast of Greenland. To allow Landsat 9, launched in September 2021, to share the same orbital position as Landsat 8, the USGS lowered Landsat 7's orbit. Even at its lower altitude, Landsat 7 continued to collect valuable data. However, being lowered caused Landsat 7 to increasingly drift within its orbit. The drift exposed it to periods of full sunlight and earlier imaging times, impacting battery maintenance, imaging opportunities, and processing of reliable science data. As a result, the USGS decided to end imaging from the aging satellite. Earth As Art image Terkezi Oasis Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details A series of rocky outcroppings are a prominent feature of this Sahara Desert landscape near the Terkezi Oasis in the country of Chad captured by Landsat 7. Today, Landsat operates with two satellites, Landsats 8 and 9, that work together to compile a complete set of Earth land images every 8 days. Earth As Art image Guinea-Bissau Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details Landsat 7 captured Guinea-Bissau is a small country in West Africa. Complex patterns can be seen in the shallow waters along its coastline, where silt carried by the Geba and other rivers washes out into the Atlantic Ocean. The Landsat Mission Continues With the end of Landsat 7's role in the Landsat science mission and the advancing age of Landsat 8, launched in 2013, attention is now directed toward the Landsat Next mission as a critical next step to ensure continuity of Landsat's unique global Earth science mission. The USGS is currently focused on ensuring the flow of data remains uninterrupted and that the quality of information keeps pace with evolving technological and environmental demands. The newest mission, known as Landsat Next, promises enhanced capabilities over its predecessors, including improved spatial resolution, increased spectral bands, and faster revisit times. These advancements are essential for more detailed and frequent monitoring of Earth's changing landscapes and for supporting critical decisions in climate resiliency, disaster response, agriculture and water management. Thumbnail image of Landsat Next, showing three satellites in orbit Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details Landsat Next satellites circling the Earth. The mission is planned for late 2030/early 2031. Landsat Next is designed not only to continue the legacy of Landsat, but also to innovate and adapt to the pressing challenges of the 21st century, ensuring that scientists, policymakers, industry, and the public have access to the information needed to better monitor and sustainably manage our ever-changing planet. Get Our News These items are in the RSS feed format (Really Simple Syndication) based on categories such as topics, locations, and more. You can install and RSS reader browser extension, software, or use a third-party service to receive immediate news updates depending on the feed that you have added. If you click the feed links below, they may look strange because they are simply XML code. An RSS reader can easily read this code and push out a notification to you when something new is posted to our site. RSS Icon Information Systems News RSS Icon National News Release News Contacts Michelle Bouchard Communications and Outreach Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center Email mbouchard@usgs.gov Phone 605-594-6168 Gina Anderson Public Affairs Specialist Communications and Publishing Email granderson@usgs.gov Phone 405-509-3524 Back to Top Science * Science Explorer * Mission Areas * Programs * Regions * Science Centers * Observatories * Laboratories * Frequently Asked Questions * Educational Resources * Special Topics Products * Data * Maps * Publications * Multimedia Gallery * Web Tools * Software * U.S. Board on Geographic Names * The National Map * USGS Library * USGS Store * Park Passes News * Featured Stories * News Releases * Science Snippets * Technical Announcements * Employees in the News * Get Our News * Media Contacts * I'm a Reporter * Newsletters Connect * Headquarters * Locations * Staff Profiles * Social Media * Careers * Contact Us About * About Us * Survey Manual * Organization * Key Officials * Congressional * Budget * Careers and Employees * Doing Business * Emergency Management Legal * Accessibility * FOIA * Site Policies * Privacy Policy * Site Map * DOI and USGS link policies apply * No FEAR Act * USA.gov * Vulnerability Disclosure Policy Agency logo U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram RSS Contact USGS 1-888-392-8545 answers.usgs.gov Was this page helpful?