ORBITING CARBON OBSERVATORIES (OCO) PROGRAM

Current Context : The Trump administration has recently proposed shutting down NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatories (OCO)program.

About OCO PROGRAM

• Purpose: Dedicated Earth remote sensing satellites to observe atmospheric CO₂ from space and improve understanding of climate change.
• Missions Timeline:
  • OCO-1: Failed after launch (Feb 2009)
  • OCO-2: Launched (July 2014), based on original OCO design to minimize cost and time
  • OCO-3: Installed on International Space Station (ISS) in 2019 for enhanced atmospheric CO₂ observations
• Significance:
  • Provides high-resolution maps of plant growth globally
  • Applications in agriculture, drought monitoring, rangeland management, and forest mapping
  • Used by the US Department of Agriculture and private agricultural consulting companies for crop yield forecasts and drought tracking