Landsat

American

[land-sat] / ˈlændˌsæt /

noun

a U.S. scientific satellite that studies and photographs the earth's surface by using remote-sensing techniques.

Landsat Scientific

/ lănd′săt′ /

Any of various satellites used to gather data for images of the Earth's land surface and coastal regions. These satellites are equipped with sensors that respond to Earth-reflected sunlight and infrared radiation. The first Landsat satellite was launched in 1972. Currently, the seventh satellite (Landsat 7) is orbiting Earth.

Etymology

Origin of Landsat

First recorded in 1975–80; land or land(-sensing) + sat(ellite)

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Aschbacher noted that the EU'S navigation satellite system Galileo and Earth observation programme Copernicus started out 10 to 15 years behind US competitors GPS and Landsat.

From Barron's • Oct. 10, 2025

Dr Bertie Miles went back through the entire image archive from the long-running American Landsat spacecraft series to assemble new, cloudless mosaics of Antarctica's coastline.

From BBC • Feb. 26, 2024

New deforestation datasets, based on the Landsat satellites, for instance, track forest change since 2000 with resolution at 30 meters, while many other products now offer frequent imaging at close resolution.

From Science Daily • Sep. 20, 2023

Landsat goes on: now up to Landsat 9.

From Washington Post • Mar. 30, 2023

Since 1972, the U.S. has conducted experimental civil remote sensing through Landsat satellites, thereby realizing many successful applications.

From State of the Union Address by Carter, Jimmy

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023