208 Real Solutions Making a Difference Daily

Image: Syced, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

ALOS-4 "DAICHI-4" (JAXA)

JAXA's DAICHI-4 radar sees through clouds over a 200 km swath, continuing the radar record used for deforestation alerts.

Image: NASA (ISS074-E-0492148)

Biomass (ESA)

ESA's Biomass satellite, launched April 29, 2025, carries the first P-band radar in space, seeing through forest canopies to measure the carbon stored in trees.

CHIME Hyperspectral Imaging Mission (ESA)

CHIME will image Earth in more than 200 colours of light to support sustainable farming, food security and biodiversity (ESA).

Image: NASA Earth Observatory

Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)

Europe's air monitoring service forecasts air pollution, smoke and dust worldwide twice a day for more than 23,500 users, free and open.

Copernicus CO2M Carbon Dioxide Monitoring (ESA / EU)

A planned trio of satellites that will measure the carbon dioxide and methane people release, so countries can check whether their emission cuts are working.

Image: NASA (ISS073-E-0420617)

Copernicus Emergency Management Service: On-Demand Mapping

The European Union's emergency mapping service turns satellite images into maps for disaster teams, 24/7 since 2012, with more than 1,000 activations.

Image: NASA-JPL/Caltech/ESA/Copernicus (PIA21962)

Copernicus Sentinel-1 (ESA)

Sentinel-1 radar sees through clouds, day and night, to map floods, earthquakes and ice; Sentinel-1C and 1D joined in 2024 and 2025.

Copernicus Sentinel-2C (ESA)

Sentinel-2C joined the Copernicus fleet in September 2024, imaging land and coasts in 13 bands so forests and crops are checked every five days.

Copernicus Sentinel-3 (ESA / EUMETSAT)

The Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellites measure Earth's oceans, land, ice and atmosphere, and a third satellite, Sentinel-3C, launched on September 15, 2026 (ESA).

Copernicus Sentinel-4 (ESA / EUMETSAT)

From geostationary orbit on MTG-S1, Sentinel-4 measures air pollution such as nitrogen dioxide and ozone over Europe and North Africa every hour (ESA).

Copernicus Sentinel-5P (ESA)

Copernicus Sentinel-5P maps the gases in the air we breathe, covering the whole planet every day with its Tropomi instrument (ESA).

Image: NASA/Carla Thomas (AFRC2025-0170-03)

Copernicus Sentinel-6B (ESA / NASA)

Sentinel-6B, launched November 17, 2025, continues the precise record of global sea level that began in the early 1990s.

Image: NASA (iss073e0604445)

Digital Earth Africa

Digital Earth Africa turns satellite data into free and open maps of water, farmland and coasts for the whole African continent (Digital Earth Africa).

Image: NASA/NOAA DSCOVR EPIC

DSCOVR / EPIC (NASA–NOAA)

A camera photographing the entire sunlit face of Earth several times a day.

Image: NASA/Jeff Williams (ISS020-E-047807)

EarthCARE (ESA–JAXA)

ESA–JAXA EarthCARE carries the first space cloud radar that can measure how cloud particles move up and down, sharpening forecasts of how clouds affect climate.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech (PIA25593)

EMIT (NASA)

NASA's EMIT instrument on the International Space Station maps the minerals in desert dust and has spotted methane super-emitters from space (NASA JPL).

Image: ISRO/NASA/JPL-Caltech (PIA14742)

EOS-06 / Oceansat-3 (ISRO)

India's EOS-06, the third Oceansat, tracks ocean color, sea-surface temperature and winds; it imaged Cyclone Mandous and an algal bloom on day one.

Image: NASA

FireSat (Earth Fire Alliance)

Earth Fire Alliance's FireSat satellites are built to spot wildfires as small as 5 by 5 meters from space and get the data to firefighters fast.

Image: NASA (ISS073-E-0420604)

FIRMS Fire Information for Resource Management System (NASA)

NASA's FIRMS delivers satellite fire detections within 3 hours anywhere on Earth, and in real time for the US and Canada. Free for firefighters and everyone.

FLEX and Sentinel-3C (ESA)

Launched together on September 15, 2026, ESA's FLEX maps the faint glow of photosynthesis while Sentinel-3C watches oceans and land.

FORUM Far-Infrared Mission (ESA)

ESA's FORUM will measure Earth's outgoing far-infrared radiation, never measured from space before, filling a missing piece of the climate jigsaw (ESA).

Galileo Satellite Navigation (EU / ESA)

Europe's Galileo is the world's most precise satellite navigation system, serving over five billion smartphone users and helping rescues (ESA).

Image: NASA (ISS074-E-0046371)

GCOM-C "SHIKISAI" (JAXA)

Japan's SHIKISAI satellite checks the health of Earth from space every 2 or 3 days, tracking clouds, aerosols, ocean color, plants, snow and ice (JAXA).

GeoXO Geostationary Extended Observations (NOAA / NASA)

NOAA's next generation of geostationary weather satellites, planned from 2032, will improve warnings of severe weather and hazards (NOAA).

GOSAT-GW "IBUKI GW" (JAXA)

JAXA's IBUKI GW tracks carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen dioxide while also measuring the water cycle. Launched June 29, 2025 from Tanegashima Space Center.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech (PIA22431)

GRACE-FO (NASA / Germany)

Twin US-German satellites weigh Earth's water by measuring gravity, tracking groundwater, ice and sea level since 2018. Active.

Image: NASA/Goddard

GSMaP Global Rainfall Map (JAXA)

JAXA's Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation maps rain around the world every hour, used by 18,673 registered users in 163 countries and regions.

HydroGNSS (ESA)

ESA's first Scout mission uses reflected navigation-satellite signals to measure soil moisture, wetlands and frozen ground (ESA).

Image: NASA (STS102-357-031)

INSAT-3DS Weather Satellite (ISRO)

India's INSAT-3DS watches weather, land and oceans from geostationary orbit and carries a search-and-rescue transponder (ISRO).

Image: NASA Earth Observatory

International Charter: Space and Major Disasters

When disaster strikes, 17 space agencies and satellite operators pool their satellites and give free images to rescue teams. Activated 1,000 times.

Image: NASA/Liz Wilk (KSC-20221109-PH-LNW01_0001)

Joint Polar Satellite System (NOAA)

NOAA's polar weather satellites circle Earth 14 times a day. Polar-orbiting satellites supply about 85% of the data used by weather prediction models.

Image: NASA/Kim Shiflett (KSC-20210927-PH-KLS04_0013)

Landsat 9 (NASA / USGS)

Landsat 9 continues a 50-year record of Earth’s land, collecting 740 scenes a day and, with Landsat 8, seeing each place every 8 days.

Libera Earth Energy Instrument (NASA)

Libera will measure how much energy leaves Earth each day, keeping a climate record that began in 2000 going strong (NOAA).

Image: NASA (ISS073-E-0080625)

Meteosat Third Generation (ESA / EUMETSAT)

Three weather satellites now watch Europe and Africa from 36,000 km up, with new images every 2.5 minutes and a camera that catches lightning day and night.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech (PIA26113)

Methane Alert and Response System (UNEP)

The UN's satellite methane alert system has sent more than 3,500 alerts about major leaks in 33 countries, and responses rose from 1% to 12% in a year.

MetOp-SG-A1 and Sentinel-5A (ESA / EUMETSAT)

Launched August 2025 on Ariane 6, MetOp-SG-A1 carries Sentinel-5, which delivers daily global data on air pollutants, ozone and climate gases.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech (PIA26285, illustration)

NISAR (NASA–ISRO)

NISAR, a NASA and ISRO radar satellite launched from India on July 30, 2025, scans nearly all of Earth's land and ice twice every 12 days, even through clouds.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech (PIA18935)

OCO-2 Orbiting Carbon Observatory (NASA)

NASA's OCO-2 satellite has measured carbon dioxide around the planet since 2014, showing where carbon is released and where forests and oceans absorb it.

Image: NASA/Kim Shiflett (KSC-20231204-PH-KLS01_0024)

PACE (NASA)

NASA's PACE reads the color of the ocean to track phytoplankton, the base of the marine food web, plus aerosols and clouds.

Image: NASA (ISS070-E-086805)

RADARSAT Constellation Mission (Canada)

Three Canadian radar satellites watch Canada's land, coasts and Arctic day and night, through cloud and smoke, with about 250,000 images a year.

Also in: Polar

SARSAT Search and Rescue Satellites (NOAA)

NOAA's SARSAT satellites relay distress beacon signals to rescuers; the international system has supported more than 50,000 rescues worldwide since 1982 (NOAA).

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech (PIA19133, illustration)

SMAP Soil Moisture Active Passive (NASA)

SMAP maps the water in Earth's soil from space, helping improve predictions of weather, floods and droughts (NASA).

Image: CNES (PIA25623)

SWOT (NASA–CNES)

SWOT measures more than 95% of Earth's lakes larger than 15 acres and rivers wider than 330 feet, the first global survey of fresh water.

Image: Carbon Mapper/Planet Labs PBC (PIA26416)

Tanager-1 (Carbon Mapper / Planet)

Tanager-1, built by Planet with a NASA JPL-designed spectrometer for the nonprofit Carbon Mapper, pinpoints methane and CO2 plumes from single sources.

TEMPO Air Quality Mission (NASA)

From geostationary orbit, NASA's TEMPO measures air pollution over North America every daylight hour, a first from space (NASA).

The GLOBE Program

A worldwide science program where students and citizen scientists collect real environmental data: more than 293 million measurements from 127 countries.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech (PIA26652)

The Science of Tsunami Detection

Deep-ocean buoys, satellites, GPS signals and seafloor cables spot tsunamis in the open ocean so coastal communities get time to reach high ground (NOAA, NASA).

Also in: Ocean

Image: NASA (iss071e047913)

African Parks

African Parks manages 24 protected areas in 13 countries, covering over 20 million hectares, in partnership with governments and local communities (nonprofit).

American Forests

Since 1875, American Forests has worked to restore U.S. forests, from big natural landscapes to city streets, with more than 63 million trees planted.

Arbor Day Foundation

Since 1972, the Arbor Day Foundation says it has planted more than half a billion trees, working in more than 60 countries (nonprofit figures).

Image: NASA (iss062e001866)

Costa Rica Payments for Environmental Services (FONAFIFO)

Costa Rica's FONAFIFO pays the owners of forests and forest plantations for the environmental services they provide, under Forestry Law 7575 (FONAFIFO).

Eden: People+Planet

Eden: People+Planet restores landscapes with local communities, including a 394,000-hectare project in Tanzania's Rubeho Mountains (Eden).

Image: NASA (ISS056-E-127068)

European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS)

Europe's wildfire system forecasts fire danger and maps burnt areas from satellites. In 2024 it mapped wildfires in 42 countries.

Image: NASA (ISS007-E-06305)

Forest Elephants, Carbon Gardeners

By thinning small trees, forest elephants help central Africa's rainforests store more carbon: 26 to 60 more tonnes of biomass per hectare (Nature Geoscience).

Image: NASA (iss068e025397)

Galápagos Giant Tortoise Rewilding

Galápagos Conservancy and the Galápagos National Park Directorate rear giant tortoises in breeding centres and return them to their home islands.

Image: NASA (iss059e088632)

GEDI Forest Lidar (NASA)

GEDI fires lasers from the International Space Station to measure the height and 3D shape of Earth's forests (University of Maryland).

Image: NASA (STS046-103-053)

Global Forest Watch (WRI)

Free satellite forest data and deforestation alerts from WRI; where Indigenous forest monitors used it, deforestation fell 52% in one year.

Image: NASA (ISS012-E-11654)

Great Green Wall (African Union / UNCCD)

An African-led effort to restore land across the Sahel. A 2020 UN status report counted about 4 million hectares restored inside the Great Green Wall zone.

Image: NASA (STS072-722-004)

Justdiggit

With farmers and pastoralists in Africa, Justdiggit is restoring 525,000 hectares of dry land and has brought back 32.3 million trees (organization figures).

Image: SI Partner

Life Terra

Life Terra and its partners have planted more than 36 million trees across Europe (company figure), working toward a goal of 500 million trees.

Image: NASA/Jessica Meir (iss074e0492148)

MAAP, Amazon Deforestation Watch

Near-real-time monitoring that finds urgent deforestation, identifies its causes and publishes easy-to-read reports.

Image: NASA/Glenn Benson (KSC-20230412-PH-GEB01_0006)

Mangrove Forests

About 80 species of mangrove trees guard tropical coastlines: their tangled roots hold mud in place, soften storm surges and give fish food and shelter.

One Tree Planted

Since 2014, One Tree Planted has planted more than 171 million trees with 489 partners in 84 countries (organization figure).

Plant-for-the-Planet

Started by a 9-year-old in 2007, Plant-for-the-Planet trains young Climate Justice Ambassadors and restores forests, including Mexico's Mayan forests.

Image: NASA (iss071e073568)

Predator Free 2050 (New Zealand)

A goal, a movement and a government-funded programme to eradicate the most harmful introduced predators.

Rainforest Connection

Solar-powered Guardian listening devices and SI detect chainsaws in real time; Rainforest Connection reports more than 726,000 hectares of rainforest protected.

Image: NASA/Goddard

Rewilding Europe

Rewilding Europe helps wild nature come back across Europe. Rewilding Europe, working with local partners in large pioneering landscapes.

Image: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Saharan Dust Feeds the Amazon

Every year about 27.7 million tons of Saharan dust falls on the Amazon, delivering some 22,000 tons of phosphorus that the rainforest needs (NASA).

Image: SI Partner

Terraformation

Terraformation grows native, biodiverse forests from seed to canopy across the tropics and Hawaii, funding seed collection, nurseries, planting and monitoring.

Image: NASA (ISS013-E-74843)

The Amazon Makes Its Own Rainy Season

Water breathed out by Amazon trees starts the rainy season two to three months before winds alone would bring it (NASA JPL).

Image: SI Partner

Three Trees for Every One Removed

Saving Planets' own forest rule: plant three trees for every one removed, so each removal becomes a net gain for habitat, soil and shade, and is easy to verify.

Trees for the Future

Partnering with East African farmers on regenerative farms: 450M+ trees grown and 99,000 acres restored (nonprofit figures).

WeForest

WeForest has grown more than 118 million trees and has 100,000 hectares of forest under restoration and conservation (WeForest).

Image: NASA (ISS023-E-007925)

Yellowstone Wolves

Gray wolves returned to Yellowstone in 1995 after nearly 70 years; in January 2026 at least 84 lived in the park, in eight packs (NPS).

Image: NASA/Goddard

Adopt-a-Beach (Alliance for the Great Lakes)

Each year, Adopt-a-Beach volunteers remove tens of thousands of pounds of litter from Great Lakes beaches, about 85% of it plastic.

Clean Lakes Alliance (Madison, Wisconsin)

Clean Lakes Alliance works to improve water quality in Madison's Yahara lakes; it reports 81 monitoring stations and over $1.4 million in grants (its figures).

Image: NASA (iss064e015104)

Clean Up the Lake

Clean Up the Lake removes submerged litter from freshwater lakes using scuba divers and volunteers, and GPS-pins, sorts and weighs every piece it finds.

Image: NASA (ISS074-E-0642367)

Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup

The Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup captures plastic across the world's largest freshwater system using Seabins, drones, and beach robots.

Image: NASA (ISS071-E-14284)

Keep Tahoe Blue (League to Save Lake Tahoe)

Keep Tahoe Blue, the League to Save Lake Tahoe, has protected the lake for decades, and its volunteers picked up 1,330 pounds of litter after July 4, 2026.

Lake Erie Harmful Algal Bloom Forecast (NOAA)

NOAA forecasts and tracks toxic algae in western Lake Erie through the summer so cities and swimmers can keep drinking water and people safe (NOAA NCCOS).

Image: NASA/Bill White (KSC-20170412-PH_SWW01_0081)

Lake Plastic Recovery

Saving Planets' own lake solution: recover plastic from freshwater lakes by skimming, shoreline collection and divers, before it travels downstream to the sea.

Living Lakes (Global Nature Fund)

Since 1998, the Global Nature Fund's Living Lakes Network has protected and restored lakes and wetlands with 130 member organizations in more than 60 countries.

Restoring the Lake Depths Foundation

A Nevada nonprofit whose ROVs and volunteer divers pull submerged trash from Lake Tahoe, from the surface down to 1,640 feet: over 13 tons in summer 2024 alone.

Created by SI and Biological SI Partner

4ocean

4ocean removes plastic from oceans, rivers, and coastlines with full-time cleanup crews, funded by products made from recovered plastic.

Image: NASA (iss071e378611)

Abu Dhabi Mangrove Restoration

The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi tracks more than 18.5 million mangroves planted across over 1,775 hectares with its new Mangrove Observatory.

Image: NOAA

Argo Ocean Float Array

Close to 4,000 robotic floats dive through the ocean and send back temperature and salinity data, free to everyone. The 3 millionth profile came in 2024.

Argos Satellite Tracking System

A satellite system that tracks wildlife and ocean instruments from tiny transmitters, following more than 8,000 animals every month for conservation science.

Image: NASA (STS039-88-054)

Billion Oyster Project

A New York nonprofit restoring the harbor with oyster reefs, aiming for one billion oysters by 2030 (nonprofit figures).

Image: NASA/GSFC/Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team

Copernicus Marine Service

Free, open ocean data and forecasts for the whole planet. In 2025 users downloaded almost 15,000 terabytes of ocean data from Copernicus Marine.

Image: NASA (STS093-717-066)

Coral Gardeners

Coral Gardeners grows corals in nurseries and replants them on reefs in French Polynesia, Fiji and Thailand: 238,250 corals planted so far.

Coral IVF (Great Barrier Reef Foundation)

Researchers capture coral spawn and rear millions of baby corals for damaged reefs; the first Coral IVF corals reproduced on the Great Barrier Reef in 2021.

Image: NASA (ISS068-E-004262)

Coral Reef Watch (NOAA)

NOAA's Coral Reef Watch uses satellites to warn of the ocean heat that bleaches corals, with daily monitoring of 95% of the world's coral reefs.

Image: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (PIA03890)

Coral Restoration Foundation

Coral Restoration Foundation had returned 253,833 corals to Florida's reefs by the end of 2024 (organization figure). Florida's Coral Reef in the Florida Keys.

Image: NASA/JPL/UCSD/JSC (PIA11019)

Coral Vita Land-Based Coral Farms

Coral Vita grows reef-building corals on land up to 50 times faster than in nature, and says it has grown over 100,000 corals (company figures).

Global Fishing Watch

Global Fishing Watch uses satellites and SI to map fishing; its 2024 Nature study found about 75% of industrial fishing vessels are not publicly tracked.

Heal the Bay

Since 1985, Heal the Bay has worked to make the coastal waters and watersheds of Greater Los Angeles safe, healthy and clean (Heal the Bay).

Healthy Seas

Volunteer divers recover ghost nets: Healthy Seas reports 1,309.1 tons of nets and marine litter removed since 2013 (Healthy Seas figure).

International Coastal Cleanup (Ocean Conservancy)

Since 1986, more than 19 million volunteers have collected more than 400 million pounds of trash from beaches and waterways (Ocean Conservancy).

Image: NASA (ISS018-E-018110)

Kelp Forests

Kelp can grow up to 18 inches a day, building underwater forests that feed and shelter thousands of species. Nature, studied and protected by NOAA and partners.

Image: NASA (ISS040-E-018752)

Mesoamerican Reef Insurance Programme (MAR Fund)

The MAR Insurance Programme, run by the nonprofit MAR Fund, uses parametric insurance to pay for fast reef repair after hurricanes along the 1,000 km Mesoamerican Reef.

Image: NASA (ISS071-E-449837)

Mission Blue Hope Spots

Founded by ocean scientist Dr. Sylvia Earle, Mission Blue backs a community-led network of 168 Hope Spots, ocean places local champions work to protect.

Mote Marine Laboratory

Mote scientists have restored more than 216,000 corals to Florida's Coral Reef, and their restored corals now spawn (Mote figure).

Image: NASA (ISS073-E-0257194)

Ocean Voyages Institute

A sailing nonprofit that has pulled more than 850,000 pounds of plastic from the Pacific Gyre in 10 voyages (nonprofit figure).

Image: NASA Earth Observatory/Jesse Allen, Landsat 8 data from USGS

Palau National Marine Sanctuary

The Palau National Marine Sanctuary makes about 80% of Palau's exclusive economic zone a no-take area, with the other 20% kept as a Domestic Fishing Zone.

Image: NASA (ISS005-E-13929)

Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary

Designated in 2025 as America's 18th national marine sanctuary, Papahānaumokuākea covers 582,570 square miles of Pacific Ocean around Hawaiʻi (NOAA).

Image: NASA/Goddard

Phytoplankton, the Ocean's Oxygen Engine

Tiny ocean plants produce about half of Earth's oxygen, making phytoplankton one of the planet's most important natural systems.

Plastic Bank

Plastic Bank pays collectors in vulnerable communities to gather ocean-bound plastic, exchanged at local branches for income, food vouchers and school supplies.

Plastic Odyssey

Plastic Odyssey sets up small recycling factories in places with no recycling system, turning plastic waste into useful products and local jobs.

Image: NASA (ISS071-E-207494)

Posidonia Seagrass Meadows

The Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica forms meadows that are thousands of years old and store carbon in the seafloor (CEAB-CSIC).

Image: NASA/Kim Shiflett (KSC-20230329-PH-KLS01_0304)

Project Seagrass

Project Seagrass, a UK charity, has planted more than 150,000 seagrass seeds to bring back underwater meadows (organization figures).

Image: NASA/KSC (KSC-99WL10)

Salt Marshes

Salt marshes are nurseries for more than 75% of fisheries species and buffer shorelines from erosion and floods (NOAA). Twice a day with the tides, all year.

Image: NASA (2010-5237)

Sea Turtle Conservancy

Sea Turtle Conservancy works in 8 countries, has tagged and monitored more than 550 turtles and trained over 1,200 researchers (nonprofit figures).

Image: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (PIA03498)

Seabin

Seabin's floating bins have captured 33.0 million items in Sydney Harbour since 2020, including 18.9 million microplastics (company figures).

Image: NASA/Kim Shiflett (KSC-20230329-PH-KLS01_0323)

Seagrass Meadows

Seagrass covers just 0.1% of the seafloor but stores 11% of the ocean's buried organic carbon, and one acre can support almost 40,000 fish, NOAA says.

Image: NASA/Glenn Benson (KSC-20230412-PH-GEB01_0152)

SeaTrees

SeaTrees connects people with local partners restoring mangroves, coral reefs, kelp forests and seagrass meadows around the world (SeaTrees).

Surfrider Foundation

Surfrider Foundation volunteers protect the ocean, waves and beaches, and in 2025 they removed 338,383 pounds of trash from U.S. coasts (Surfrider).

Created by SI and Biological SI Partner

The Ocean Cleanup

The Ocean Cleanup removes legacy plastic from ocean garbage patches and intercepts it in rivers: more than 65 million kilograms caught as of October 2026.

Image: NASA (STS066-154-157)

The SeaCleaners

Mobula cleanup boats catch plastic close to where it starts, and in Malaysia one boat turned 135,000 pieces of debris into community walkways (The SeaCleaners).

Whales, Ocean Gardeners

Whale waste carries nutrients to the ocean surface and fertilizes phytoplankton, the tiny plants at the base of the ocean food web (NOAA Fisheries).

Image: NASA (ISS072-E-421839)

ATLAS Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System

Four robotic telescopes, two in Hawaiʻi, search the entire dark sky every 24 hours for asteroids that could hit Earth, so people can be warned.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/CSS-Univ. of Arizona (PIA22468)

Catalina Sky Survey

A NASA-funded survey in Arizona that has discovered more near-Earth objects than any other: 17,918 near-Earth asteroids since 1995.

Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls (NHQ202007120001)

Comet Interceptor (ESA / JAXA)

Three spacecraft will wait in space for a fresh comet and fly past it together to make a 3D map; launch is planned for late 2028 or early 2029 (ESA).

Image: JAXA Hayabusa2 ONC data, processed by Anonymsiy (CC BY 4.0)

Hayabusa2 Torifune Flyby (JAXA)

On 5 July 2026, JAXA's Hayabusa2 passed about 400 m above asteroid Torifune, the closest flyby of any Solar System body so far (JAXA).

Image: ESA – Science Office (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO, resized)

Hera

ESA's Hera arrives at the asteroid Dimorphos in November 2026 to measure what NASA's DART impact did, turning deflection into a repeatable defense.

Image: NASA/Ben Smegelsky (KSC-20210929-PH-JBS01_0051)

Lucy (NASA)

NASA's Lucy is touring asteroids; after Dinkinesh and Donaldjohanson, it reaches its first Trojan asteroid, Eurybates, on 11 August 2027 (NASA).

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech (PIA26384)

Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre (ESA)

Europe's asteroid watch centre computes orbits and impact risks every day and keeps a public list of every asteroid with a non-zero chance of hitting Earth.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona (PIA25253)

NEO Surveyor

NASA NEO Surveyor is the first space telescope built to find hazardous asteroids, including dark ones hidden in the Sun's glare. Launch NET September 2027.

Image: NASA

OSIRIS-APEX and Apophis 2029 (NASA)

On April 13, 2029, asteroid Apophis passes about 20,000 miles from Earth. NASA's OSIRIS-APEX meets it in June 2029 to see how that close pass changes it.

Image: NASA (ISS074-E-0480485)

Pan-STARRS Near-Earth Object Search

Two telescopes on Haleakalā, Maui, that in 2021 found nearly as many near-Earth objects as the rest of the world's observatories combined.

Image: ESA

Ramses (ESA / JAXA)

ESA and JAXA's Ramses must launch by spring 2028 to meet Apophis before its 2029 Earth pass. Its €81.2 million build contract was signed in February 2026.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech (PIA25790)

Webb and 2024 YR4

How the James Webb Space Telescope tracked asteroid 2024 YR4 in February 2026 and ruled out a 2032 Moon impact, two years before ground telescopes could.

Image: NASA/James Blair (jsc2026e406058)

Carbfix: Turning CO2 Into Stone

Carbfix dissolves carbon dioxide in water and injects it into basalt rock, where it turns into stone (company).

CIMR Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer (ESA)

Two Copernicus satellites will measure sea ice, sea-surface temperature and salinity over 95% of the globe every day, with sub-daily polar views (ESA).

Also in: Earth Observation

Image: NASA/GSFC/Jefferson Beck (GSFC_20171208_Archive_e001754)

CRISTAL Polar Ice and Snow Altimeter (ESA)

CRISTAL will carry the first dual-frequency radar altimeter to measure polar sea-ice thickness and the snow on top, following ESA's CryoSat (ESA).

Also in: Earth Observation

Image: NASA/Digital Mapping System (GSFC_20171208_Archive_e000907)

CryoSat Ice Mission (ESA)

CryoSat measures polar sea ice and the great ice sheets from space, and its data revealed 85 hidden lakes under Antarctica (ESA).

Also in: Earth Observation

Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls (NHQ201809150011)

ICESat-2 (NASA)

NASA's ICESat-2 laser fires 10,000 pulses a second to measure ice sheets, sea ice, forests and coastal seafloor in 3D. Active.

Also in: Earth Observation

Image: NASA Earth Observatory/Lauren Dauphin, Landsat 8 data from USGS

International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration

About 100 scientists from the UK, US, South Korea, Germany and Sweden are working out how fast Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier could raise sea levels (ITGC).

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech (PIA26186)

PREFIRE Polar CubeSats (NASA)

Two shoebox-size NASA satellites measure the far-infrared heat that Earth's poles send into space (NASA JPL). Last reviewed: October 2026 · 4 sources cited

Also in: Earth Observation

Image: NASA Earth Observatory/Joshua Stevens, Landsat 9 data from USGS

Svalbard Global Seed Vault

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault stores backup copies of the world's crop seeds free of charge, more than 100 metres inside an Arctic mountain (Seed Vault).

Ariel Exoplanet Mission (ESA)

ESA's Ariel will study the atmospheres of a thousand planets orbiting other stars, revealing what they are made of (ESA).

Image: NASA

Artemis Program (NASA)

NASA's Artemis program: Artemis I flew in 2022, Artemis II carried four astronauts 252,756 miles from Earth in April 2026, and Artemis III is targeted for 2027.

Image: NASA/JHUAPL/Carnegie Institution of Washington

BepiColombo (ESA / JAXA)

After eight years in space, BepiColombo enters orbit around Mercury on 21 November 2026, the first mission to put two spacecraft there (ESA).

Dragonfly Titan Rotorcraft (NASA)

NASA's Dragonfly is a car-size rotorcraft that will fly across Saturn's moon Titan to study the chemistry that came before life (NASA).

Image: NASA/JPL (PIA00271)

EnVision (ESA)

ESA's EnVision will study Venus from its inner core to its upper atmosphere, and may show how a planet like ours got so hot. Launch is planned for late 2031.

Image: Blue Origin via NASA (KSC-20251113-PH-BLU01_0007)

ESCAPADE (NASA)

NASA's twin ESCAPADE spacecraft will study how the solar wind strips Mars' atmosphere, after an Earth slingshot in fall 2026.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech (PIA17068)

ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Rover (ESA)

Europe's first Mars rover, Rosalind Franklin, will drill 2 meters down to look for signs of past life, targeting launch in 2028.

Image: NASA/Thomas Pesquet (iss065e333421)

ISS Water Recovery (NASA)

The space station now recycles 98% of the water its crews bring along, thanks to a Brine Processor Assembly, technology that matters wherever water is scarce.

Image: NASA/Sydney Rohde

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (NASA)

NASA's Roman telescope launched Aug 30, 2026 to L2: Hubble-sharp images 100x wider, a census of planetary systems, first images by early 2027.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech (PIA19333)

Plato (ESA)

ESA's Plato will use 26 cameras to hunt for Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars, with launch planned for March 2027 on Ariane 6.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU (PIA24473)

Psyche (NASA)

NASA's Psyche used a Mars flyby on 15 May 2026 to head for a metal-rich asteroid it will orbit from August 2029, to learn what a planet's core is like.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/BAE Systems (PIA26537)

SPHEREx (NASA)

Launched 11 March 2025, NASA's SPHEREx maps the whole sky in 102 infrared colors and finished its first all-sky map in 2025 (NASA JPL).

Image: NASA (KSC-2013-3567)

Veggie Space Garden (NASA)

NASA's Veggie garden grows fresh food on the International Space Station; in 2015 astronauts ate the first lettuce grown in it (NASA).

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech (PIA22835)

Voyager 1 and 2 (NASA)

Launched in 1977, the twin Voyagers are in interstellar space, and on Nov. 18, 2026, Voyager 1 will be one light-day from Earth (NASA).

Created by SI and Biological SI Partner

American Rivers

American Rivers has worked directly on more than 200 dam removals; in 2025 the U.S. removed 100 dams and reconnected more than 4,893 river miles.

Beavers, River Engineers

In Oregon's Bridge Creek, beavers given simple dam starters raised juvenile steelhead survival 52% and production 175% (NOAA Fisheries).

Image: NASA (iss072e757318)

Cheonggyecheon Stream Restoration (Seoul)

Seoul removed an ageing road and elevated motorway that covered the Cheonggyecheon stream and restored it along a 5.84 km corridor through the city centre.

Image: NASA (SL3-83-166)

Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Since 1966, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation has worked to save the Bay and its rivers, adding more than 21 million oysters in fiscal year 2026 (CBF).

Image: NASA/Landsat 8 (GSFC_20171208_Archive_e000239)

Elwha River Restoration

Two Elwha River dams came down between 2011 and 2014, and more than 20 million tons of trapped sediment flowed downstream to rebuild the river and coast.

FreshWater Watch (Earthwatch Europe)

FreshWater Watch trains citizen scientists to test rivers, lakes and ponds: 80,000+ datasets from 22,000+ volunteers (organization figures).

Image: NASA Earth Observatory

Global Flood Awareness System (GloFAS)

Free global river flood forecasts up to 30 days ahead, plus 4-month outlooks, from the Copernicus Emergency Management Service.

Kissimmee River Restoration (Florida)

Once straightened into a canal, Florida's Kissimmee River is winding again: 44 miles of river and 20,000 acres of wetlands restored (SFWMD).

Image: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (PIA26448)

Klamath River Dam Removal

Four Klamath River dams came out by October 2024, reopening more than 400 miles of habitat to salmon, steelhead and lamprey (Klamath River Renewal).

Image: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (PIA23534)

Living Lands & Waters

A barge-based river cleanup crew that, with more than 141,000 volunteers, has pulled over 14 million pounds of trash from U.S. rivers.

Image: NASA (ISS074-E-0381351)

London Tideway Tunnel (Super Sewer)

London's new super sewer catches sewage that used to spill into the River Thames in storms, with room for 1.6 million cubic metres (Tideway).

Image: NASA (STS098-716-057)

Mr. Trash Wheel Family

Baltimore's Trash Wheels intercept about 500 tons of trash a year before it reaches the harbor and the Chesapeake Bay (organization figure).

Image: NASA (ISS070-E-005997)

Namami Gange (India)

India's Namami Gange programme has created or rehabilitated 4,263 million litres a day of sewage treatment for the River Ganga (government figures).

Image: NASA (iss073e0763866)

NEWater, Singapore's Recycled Water (PUB)

NEWater is high-grade reclaimed water from PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency, made from treated used water in a three-step purification process at 4 plants.

Image: NASA/GSFC/Landsat

OpenET Satellite Water Data

Free satellite data on how much water crops and land use, now for all 48 contiguous states, with more than 13,000 registered users.

Image: NASA (ISS072-E-394484)

Penobscot River Restoration (Maine)

After two dams came out of Maine's Penobscot River, nearly 5.93 million river herring climbed the Milford fish lift in 2025, up from about 590,000 in 2015.

River Cleanup

River Cleanup and its volunteers have recovered more than 4.39 million kg of waste from rivers worldwide and aim for 1,000 plastic-free rivers by 2050.

Sungai Watch

Sungai Watch stops plastic in Indonesian rivers with trash barriers, daily collection and sorting, plus upcycling, working in Bali and Java since 2020.

The Great Bubble Barrier

The Great Bubble Barrier's bubble curtain guides plastic out of Amsterdam's canals into a catchment across the full width and depth, while boats and fish pass.

Trout Unlimited

Trout Unlimited restores and reconnects cold, clean rivers, reconnecting 1,052 miles of streams in its 2024-25 season (Trout Unlimited).

Waterkeeper Alliance

Waterkeeper Alliance unites hundreds of local Waterkeeper groups that patrol and protect more than 6 million square miles of rivers, lakes and coastlines.

Image: Astroscale, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0, illustration)

Astroscale

Astroscale inspects, services and removes debris in orbit: ELSA-d, ADRAS-J's 2024 close-up of an H-IIA upper stage, and ADRAS-J2, targeted for fiscal 2027.

Also in: Space Disposal

ClearSpace

ClearSpace leads Europe's first active debris removal mission and provides in-orbit servicing. It is a privately held in-orbit servicing company.

Also in: Space Disposal

Image: NASA/JPL/USGS (PIA00422)

Emirates Mars Mission (Hope Probe)

The UAE's Hope Probe has studied the Martian atmosphere from orbit since 2021, and its mission is now extended until 2028 (UAE Space Agency).

Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute (PIA11688)

Enceladus

Saturn’s small moon Enceladus hides a global ocean and sprays it into space. Cassini found water, salts, organics, hydrogen and phosphates there.

Image: NASA (iss071e014023)

Gaganyaan G1 Uncrewed Flight (ISRO)

Gaganyaan G1, ISRO's first uncrewed Gaganyaan flight, is targeted for late 2026 on the human-rated HLVM3 rocket (ISRO).

Image: NASA (ISS074-E-0149572)

Globe at Night (NSF NOIRLab)

Globe at Night invites anyone to measure how dark their night sky is. People have sent 331,065 observations to track light pollution (program figures).

Image: NASA/ESA/Goddard/UC Berkeley/JPL-Caltech/STScI (GSFC_20171208_Archive_e000537)

Jupiter

Jupiter is a natural space debris removal system that swallows or flings away far more dangerous objects than any human mission could.

Also in: Planetary Defense, Space Disposal

Image: NASA/Michael Hopkins (ISS065-E-009492)

Orbital Data Centers

Data centers in orbit run SI chips on solar power and radiate waste heat into space, with no water-cooling towers. Early flights only, not yet a replacement.

Image: NASA (ISS017-E-015496)

Aeolus Assisted Reentry (ESA)

ESA guided its retired Aeolus wind satellite down in the first assisted reentry of its kind, cutting the already low debris risk by a factor of 150.

Atmospheric Drag

Atmospheric drag is Earth's natural space debris removal: it pulls low-orbit junk down to burn up, faster when the Sun is active, but barely works up high.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech (PIA26068)

Europa Clipper

NASA's Europa Clipper is on its way to Jupiter's ocean moon, with an Earth gravity assist on December 3, 2026 and 49 close Europa flybys from 2030.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech (PIA24026)

Juice

ESA's Juice will study Ganymede, Callisto and Europa, with 35 moon flybys after it reaches Jupiter in July 2031. Cruising.

Image: NASA (ISS023-E-057948)

LeoLabs

LeoLabs runs a global network of ground radars that track satellites and debris in low Earth orbit and turn the data into collision warnings.

Image: Kyoto University via NASA (jsc2024e081747)

LignoSat Wooden Satellite (Kyoto University)

LignoSat, the world's first wooden satellite, proved wood can survive in orbit; a follow-on is a potential solution on the horizon.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona (PIA10368)

MMX

JAXA's MMX launches October 2026 to land on Mars's moon Phobos and return at least 10 grams of it to Earth in 2031, a first for the Mars system.

Image: NASA/Debora McCallum

Northrop Grumman SpaceLogistics

Life extension in GEO: two MEVs have docked with three satellites, and the Mission Robotic Vehicle and three pods launched July 21, 2026 (company figures).

PRELUDE (ClearSpace)

PRELUDE is a ClearSpace and ESA mission planned for June 2027 to validate close-proximity rendezvous technology. A potential solution on the horizon.

Also in: Space

Image: SpaceX via NASA (KSC-20261001-PH-SPX01_0003)

Starfish Space Otter

The first Otter launched October 1, 2026 for NASA's SSPICY mission, inspecting up to four dead satellites and rocket bodies from 2027.

Image: NASA/NOAA DSCOVR EPIC

The Moon Steadies Earth’s Tilt

Saving moons, saving planets: the Moon keeps Earth's 23.5-degree tilt in check, which keeps our seasons and climate stable (NASA).

Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/University of Idaho (PIA20016)

Titan

Titan is a prebiotic time capsule, and NASA's Dragonfly rotorcraft explores it from 2034, building radar, power and autonomy tools that matter for Earth.

Image: NASA (ISS066-E-080762)

U.S. Deorbit Vehicle (NASA / SpaceX)

NASA selected SpaceX to build the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle that will guide the International Space Station safely out of orbit after 2030.

Zero Debris Charter (ESA)

The Zero Debris Charter sets shared targets to stop creating space debris by 2030; by May 2026 it had 228 signatories from 34 countries (ESA).

Aditya-L1 (ISRO)

Aditya-L1 is ISRO's first space-based solar observatory, studying the Sun from a halo orbit around L1, about 1.5 million km from Earth.

Image: NASA/Frank Michaux (KSC-20250905-PH-FMX01_0037)

Carruthers Geocorona Observatory (NASA)

The first mission dedicated to Earth's exosphere, Carruthers watches our planet's ultraviolet halo from about a million miles sunward.

Image: NASA/Ben Smegelsky (KSC-20240124-PH-JBS01_0071)

GOES-19 and CCOR-1 (NOAA)

NOAA's GOES-19 carries CCOR-1, the world's first operational space-based coronagraph, imaging the Sun's corona every 15 minutes.

Image: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman (KSC-20250529-PH-EGW01_0012)

IMAP (NASA)

NASA's IMAP watches the Sun from about a million miles sunward and can give about a half hour's warning of incoming radiation.

Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls (NHQ201808120013)

Parker Solar Probe (NASA)

The first spacecraft to fly through the Sun's outer atmosphere, helping scientists understand the space weather that affects life and technology on Earth.

Image: NASA/Jim Ross (AFRC2025-0036-22)

PUNCH (NASA)

Four suitcase-sized NASA satellites image the Sun's corona and solar wind together, in 3D, since March 2025. Active in low Earth orbit.

Image: ESA/NASA/SOHO (PIA03149)

SOHO Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (ESA / NASA)

Watching the Sun nonstop since 1995, SOHO helps experts predict solar storms and has found more than 5,000 comets (NASA).

Image: ESA/U. Ragnit via NASA (KSC-20200108-PH-ESA01_0001)

Solar Orbiter (ESA / NASA)

ESA and NASA's Solar Orbiter took the first close-up images of the Sun's poles, coming within 42 million km of the Sun. Active, orbiting the Sun.

Image: NASA/SDO

SOLAR-1 (NOAA)

NOAA's SOLAR-1 (formerly SWFO-L1) watches the Sun from L1, about one million miles from Earth, streaming space weather data to forecasters in real time.

Three Invisible Shields

Three natural shields protect Earth: the heliosphere, the magnetosphere, and the atmosphere with its ozone layer, deflecting solar wind and most harmful UV-B.

Image: SpaceX via NASA (KSC-20250723-PH-SPX01_0003)

TRACERS (NASA)

NASA's twin TRACERS satellites fly through Earth's polar cusps to study magnetic reconnection, a key driver of space weather.

Vigil (ESA)

ESA's Vigil will watch the Sun from L5, giving up to four to five days' notice of certain space weather effects. Launch is planned for 2031.