The Landsat Project is a joint initiative of the
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA) to gather Earth resource
data using a series of satellites. NASA was responsible
for developing and launching the spacecrafts, while
the USGS is responsible for flight operations, maintenance,
and management of all ground data reception, processing,
archiving, product generation, and distribution.
The primary objective of the Landsat Project is to
ensure a collection of consistently calibrated Earth
imagery. Landsat's Global Survey Mission is to establish
and execute a data acquisition strategy that ensures
repetitive acquisition of observations over the Earth's
land mass, coastal boundaries, and coral reefs; and
to ensure the data acquired are of maximum utility
in supporting the scientific objectives of monitoring
changes in the Earth's land surface and associated
environment.
For more information on Landsat objectives and management
guidelines, please view the Management
Plan for the Landsat Program (pdf 18KB).