	Introduction

On February 11, 2013, NASA launched Landsat 8, a remote sensing satellite jointly operated by the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA. Landsat 8 is the latest in a series of Earth-observing satellites that began on July 23, 1972, with the launch of Landsat 1. Landsat has been used in a wide variety of applications, including land use planning, agriculture, forestry, natural resources management, public safety, homeland security, climate research, and natural disaster management, among others. More generally, should Congress support the development of another moderate resolution land-imaging satellite, and what are the alternatives? Landsat After Landsat 8

Most proponents agree that Landsat 8's 30-meter resolution—its ability to capture images with its Operational Land Imager (OLI) instrument at the scale of about a baseball diamond—renders it a valuable tool for characterizing human-scale processes such as urban growth, agricultural irrigation, and deforestation. They also note that the consistent and continuous collection of imagery from the succession of Landsat satellites since 1972 makes it possible to document land changes because images are comparable. The Appendix provides further details about the efforts to privatize Landsat in the 1980s and early 1990s. NASA and USGS: The Sustainable Land Imaging Architecture Study Team

The Administration is examining a future land imaging program that may depart from the current Landsat "model"—namely a dedicated satellite pair each with a moderate-resolution multispectral scanner and a thermal imager. NASA and USGS are crafting a post Landsat-8 strategy via the Sustainable Land Imaging Architecture Study Team (AST), which appears to be following the broad guidelines laid out in the National Plan, discussed above. At the meeting, the NASA Earth Science Division director noted that the Administration wants NASA to explore all options to achieve this goal, including options like a hosted payload and international partnerships, as opposed to a stand-alone payload and launch vehicle and an entirely U.S.-based project. Discussion: Differing Views over the Future of Landsat

		Senate

Senate appropriators have been critical of the Administration's current approach to continuing a Landsat-type moderate-resolution Earth observing system. In the report, the committee emphasized its concerns over a potential data gap should Landsat 7 fail before a successor satellite was launched: such a failure would mean that instead of 8 days for continuous terrestrial coverage with two satellites, it would take 16 days with just Landsat 8. Although a congressional debate over the next phase of the Landsat legacy is in its early stages, the discussion above notes potentially divergent opinions among the Administration and Congress. Some members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies have recently questioned if the multiagency Landsat program aligns within the fundamental mission of NASA, since NASA acquires and launches Landsat, but a different agency, USGS, assumes operational responsibility, and manages and distributes Landsat data. A common theme likely to be expressed by both the House and Senate majorities and minorities will be the need to keep costs under control and at least below the amount appropriated for Landsat 8. In addition to a unified admonition to keep the cost of a Landsat successor low, Congress may also exert pressure on the Administration to move forward on the next land imaging mission and reduce the chances of a data gap if Landsat 7 or 8 fails before the next satellite is placed in orbit. However, what a data gap actually means may be in question depending on the results of the AST study, and the resulting implementation strategy. Although the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992 reversed the privatization track for Landsat and returned the satellite system to the federal government, the act also authorized the Secretary of Commerce to license operators of private remote sensing space systems.
On February 11, 2013, NASA launched Landsat 8, a remote sensing satellite jointly operated by the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA. Landsat 8 is the latest in a series of Earth-observing satellites that began on July 23, 1972, with the launch of Landsat 1. Landsat has been used in a wide variety of applications, including land use planning, agriculture, forestry, natural resources management, public safety, homeland security, climate research, and natural disaster management, among others. A question for Congress is, should there be a Landsat 9? More generally, should Congress support the development of another moderate resolution land-imaging satellite, and what are the alternatives?
Landsat 8's 30-meter resolution—its ability to capture images at the scale of about a baseball diamond—renders it a valuable tool for characterizing human-scale processes such as urban growth, agricultural irrigation, and deforestation. Landsat supporters also would contend that the consistent and continuous collection of imagery from the succession of Landsat satellites since 1972 makes it possible to document land changes, because images are comparable over that 42-year time period. In congressional deliberations about the future of Landsat, it is likely that the topics of privatization and commercialization will be revisited as one alternative to the current arrangement. Landsat's 30-meter resolution, the continuous and comparable 42-year record of data, and the current policy of making all Landsat data available for no cost would factor into a discussion about commercialization. Efforts to commercialize Landsat in the 1980s and early 1990s culminated with passage of the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992, which reversed the privatization track for Landsat and restored management of the satellite system back to the federal government.
Although a congressional debate over the next phase of the Landsat legacy is in its early stages, there are potentially divergent opinions among the Administration and Congress. The Administration is examining a future land imaging program that may depart from what might be considered the current Landsat "model"—namely, a dedicated satellite pair, each with the same or similar instruments as those aboard Landsats 7 and 8, the two currently orbiting satellites. For example, the Administration is directing NASA to explore options like a hosted payload and international partnerships, as opposed to a stand-alone payload and launch vehicle and an entirely U.S. project.
The Administration, through NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, is crafting a post-Landsat 8 strategy via the Sustainable Land Imaging Architecture Study Team, which broadly follows guidelines laid out in the White House National Plan for Civil Earth Observations. Senate appropriators have been critical of the Administration's current approach to continuing a Landsat-type moderate-resolution Earth-observing system, namely one that may depart from the current Landsat model. In addition, the committee has emphasized its concerns over a potential data gap should Landsat 7 fail before a successor satellite was launched, leaving just one satellite—Landsat 8—operational. Some members of the House Appropriations Committee have recently questioned if the multiagency Landsat program aligns within the fundamental mission of NASA.
A common theme likely to be expressed by both the House and Senate will be the need to keep costs under control and at least below the amount appropriated for Landsat 8. In addition, Congress will also likely exert pressure on the Administration to move forward on the next land imaging mission and reduce the chances of a data gap if Landsat 7 or 8 fails before the next satellite is placed in orbit. What a data gap actually means, however, may be in question, depending on the results of the Sustainable Land Imaging Architecture Study Team study and the resulting implementation strategy for the next land remote sensing satellite.