Landsat 1

Landsat 1

Landsat 1 in flight configuration with solar panels deployed after tests at the G.E. Valley Forge Plant.
Mission type	Earth imaging
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1972-058A
SATCAT no.	06126[1]
Mission duration	5 years, 5 months and 14 days
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	GE Aerospace
Launch mass	1,800 kilograms (4,000 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	July 23, 1972 (1972-07-23)
Rocket	Delta 900
Launch site	Vandenberg SLC-2W
End of mission
Disposal	Decommissioned
Deactivated	January 6, 1978 (1978-01-07)
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Sun-synchronous
Semi-major axis	7,280 kilometres (4,520 mi)
Perigee altitude	902 kilometers (560 mi)
Apogee altitude	917 kilometers (570 mi)
Inclination	99.1 degrees
Period	117.04 minutes
Epoch	August 26, 1972[2]

Landsat 1 (LS-1), formerly named ERTS-A and ERTS-1, was the first satellite of the United States' Landsat program. It was a modified version of the Nimbus 4 meteorological satellite and was launched on July 23, 1972, by a Delta 900 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

It was the first satellite to carry a Multispectral Scanner.

The near-polar orbiting spacecraft served as a stabilized, Earth-oriented platform for obtaining information on agricultural and forestry resources, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water resources, geography, cartography, environmental pollution, oceanography and marine resources, and meteorological phenomena.