The Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT), also known as Ibuki, is the world's first spacecraft to measure the concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane, the two major greenhouse gases, from space (Figure 1). The spacecraft was launched successfully on January 23, 2009, and has been operating properly since then (as of March 2014).

Through analyzing the GOSAT observational data, scientists will be able to ascertain the global distribution of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), and how the sources and sinks of these gases vary with seasons, years, and locations. These new findings will enhance scientific understanding on the causes of global warming. Also, they will serve as fundamental information for improving climate change prediction and establishing sound plans for mitigating global warming.

The GOSAT Project is a joint effort of the Ministry of the Environment (MOE), the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

2001 Mars Odyssey is a robotic spacecraft orbiting the planet Mars. The project was developed by NASA, and contracted out to Lockheed Martin.

Its mission is to use spectrometers and electronic imagers to detect evidence of past or present water and volcanic activity on Mars. It is hoped that the data Odyssey obtains will help answer the question of whether life has ever existed on Mars. It also acts as a relay for communications between the Mars Exploration Rovers, Mars Science Laboratory, and the Phoenix lander to Earth. The mission was named as a tribute to Arthur C. Clarke, evoking the name of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Odyssey was launched April 7, 2001 on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and reached Mars orbit on October 24, 2001, at 2:30 a.m. UTC (October 23, 7:30 p.m. PDT, 10:30 p.m. EDT). The spacecraft's main engine fired in order to brake the spacecraft's speed, which allowed it to be captured into orbit around Mars. Odyssey used a technique called "aerobraking" that gradually brought the spacecraft closer to Mars with each orbit. By using the atmosphere of Mars to slow down the spacecraft in its orbit, rather than firing its engine or thrusters, Odyssey was able to save more than 200 kilograms (440 lb) of propellant. Aerobraking ended in January, and Odyssey began its science mapping mission on February 19, 2002. It is currently in a polar orbit around Mars with an altitude of about 3,800 km or 2,400 miles.

By December 15, 2010 it broke the record for longest serving spacecraft at Mars, with 3,340 days of operation, claiming the title from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. 

The Lunar CATALYST is a NASA project for the development of commercial robotic lunar lander capabilities.

Such capabilities could support commercial activities on the moon while enabling new science and exploration missions of interest to the larger scientific and academic communities.
NASA's new Lunar Cargo Transportation and Landing by Soft Touchdown (Lunar CATALYST) initiative calls for proposals from the U.S. private sector that would lead to one or more no-funds exchanged Space Act Agreements (SAA). The purpose of these SAAs would be to encourage the development of robotic lunar landers that can be integrated with U.S. commercial launch capabilities to deliver small and medium class payloads to the lunar surface.

Headquartered in Mount Pleasant, STAR, Inc. is a premier high-tech small business for South Carolina.

Since its founding in 1998, STAR has performed aircraft and spacecraft research for the Department of Defense, NASA, and NIAC. With in-house and SBIR funding for small business, STAR has developed new concepts for high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft; propellantless, maneuvering spacecraft; and space elevators for the Moon. STAR has also won the Small Business Administration's National Tibbetts Award for South Carolina.

Brockmann Geomatics Sweden AB is specialized in environmental monitoring and mapping using Remote Sensing and GIS techniques.

We offer our customers a long-term close cooperation and sustainable solutions that fits their needs. We are working on national and international environmental and mapping projects using satellite images, aerial photographs, and elevation models.
Our expert staffs has a broad experience in wetland monitoring, aquatic remote sensing and mapping of areas with high natural values, like pals mires and dunes.

Exelis Geospatial Systems, headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., is a global supplier of remote sensing and navigation solutions that provide sight and situational awareness at the space, airborne, ground and soldier levels.

Our integrated solutions capture, intensify, compress, encrypt, transmit, combine, analyze and deliver data. Using our technologies, customers can move beyond mere image acquisition to image interchange and true knowledge sharing.

Exelis Geospatial Systems serves international and domestic commercial and government customers in the Department of Defense, intelligence, earth and space science and commercial aerospace arenas with one of the widest ranges of capabilities in the image capture, remote sensing and navigation industry. A legacy of expertise and imagery leadership allows Exelis to deliver against specific needs.

The Bolivian Space Agency is is responsible for the development and application of space science for the benefit of Bolivians.

Exelis Inc. is a global aerospace, defense, information and services company created in October 2011 as a result of the spinoff of ITT Corporation's defense business into an independent, publicly traded company.

The company is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, USA and is led by CEO and President David F. Melcher. The Washington Post highlighted Exelis as a top company in the Washington, DC region in 2011.

The Deep Space Network (DSN) is a world-wide network of large antennas and communication facilities that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions.

It also performs radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe, and supports selected Earth-orbiting missions. DSN is part of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Other similar networks include ESTRACK of the European Space Agency, the Soviet Deep Space Network, the Indian Deep Space Network, and the Chinese Deep Space Network.

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) is an Orbiting Carbon Observatory planned to be launched in July 2014.

Its based on the original OCO mission (NASA) that failed to reaching injection orbit, on February 24, 2009, due to a launch vehicle anomaly.

OCO-2 is comprised of a single instrument that flies on a dedicated spacecraft. The instrument, consisting of three high resolution grating spectrometers, will acquire precise measurements of atmospheric CO2. The OCO-2 spacecraft bus, developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation, is primarily based on the LeoStar-2 bus design and architecture used for the OCO, Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE), and Galaxy Explorer (GALEX) missions.

The Observatory will be launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on a dedicated Delta II rocket in July 2014. The Observatory will acquire data in three different measurement modes. In Nadir Mode, the instrument views the ground directly below the spacecraft. In Glint Mode, the instrument tracks near the location where sunlight is directly reflected on the Earth's surface. Glint Mode enhances the instrument's ability to acquire highly accurate measurements, particularly over the ocean. In Target Mode, the instrument views a specified surface target continuously as the satellite passes overhead. Target Mode provides the capability to collect a large number of measurements over sites where ground based and airborne instruments also measure atmospheric CO2. The OCO-2 Science Team will compare Target Mode measurements with those acquired by ground-based and airborne instruments to validate OCO-2 mission data.

The Observatory has a planned operational life of 2 years.