July 25, 2014
On July 2, 2014 NASA successfully launched the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) from Vandenberg Air Force Base. This is currently undergoing final checkout as it maneuvers into it’s final orbit within the A-Train collection of satellites. It is anticipated that the mission will become operational in August of this year.
The purpose of this mission is to monitor carbon dioxide in the atmosphere on a global basis in near real-time. It will be especially useful identifying and monitoring carbon sinks and their changes over time.
You can learn more about this important satellite program at the OCO-2 site of the Jet Propulsion Lab