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Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3

OCO-3

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3, or OCO-3, is a future space instrument designed to investigate important questions about the distribution of carbon dioxide on Earth as it relates to growing urban populations and changing patterns of fossil fuel combustion.

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OPALS Foreground

Mission Statistics

Time in Orbit

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Launch Date

May 04, 2019

Type

Instrument

Target

Earth

Status

Current

About the mission

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3, or OCO-3, is a future space instrument designed to investigate important questions about the distribution of carbon dioxide on Earth as it relates to growing urban populations and changing patterns of fossil fuel combustion.

NASA has developed and assembled the instrument using spare materials from the successful development and launch of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 in 2014 and will host the instrument on the Japanese Experiment Module- Exposed Facility (JEM-EF) onboard the International Space Station.

Mission Highlights

May 03, 2019

Launch

OCO-3 was launched May 3, 2019, from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
Target: Earth
OCO-3
› OCO-3 Mission Website
› Eyes on the Earth 3-D Interactive
› Fact Sheet

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