Atlas V Booster Carries Latest US Landsat Satellite Into Orbit - NASA

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2021) The United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully fired the Landsat 9 satellite into orbit on an Atlas V booster missile from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in the US state of California, NASA announced on Monday.

After previously delays since the originally scheduled date of September 16, Landsat 9 was launched smoothly at 2:12 pm US Eastern Time. The takeoff was podcast live by NASA.

Landsat 9 is "a joint NASA and US Geological Survey (USGS) mission that will continue the legacy of monitoring Earth's land and coastal regions that began with the first Landsat satellite in 1972," the space agency said.

Landsat 9 will now join its sister satellite, Landsat 8, in orbit in collecting images from across the planet every eight days, NASA also said.

The mission will continue the Landsat program's critical role in monitoring the Earth and helping manage essential resources, including crops, irrigation water, and forests, NASA added.