Landsat

American  

[land-sat] / ˈlændˌsæt /

noun

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

---

Landsat Scientific  

/ lănd′săt′ /

1. 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

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

Piper's three-decade-long study of loon behavioral ecology in northern Wisconsin intersects with Gline and Rose's use of Landsat imagery to calculate freshwater lake clarity.

From Science Daily • Apr. 5, 2024

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

Miller Cartographic Medal from the American Geographical Society in 2022 for her Landsat imaging system that “transformed expectations of how we can know the Earth.”

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