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.

See Examples For:

Landsat

A Landsat 9 image taken on July 29, 2026, shows the extensive damage around Burgohondo.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026

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

For today’s researchers, the images from the early generations of Landsat satellites offer important baseline records to assess climate change, shoreline erosion, rainforest loss and other shifts.

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 Jimmy Carter

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