Earth Venture is a NASA Earth science mission line within the Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) program. It consists of competitively selected, principal investigator-led investigations intended to provide frequent, lower cost flight opportunities for focused studies of the Earth system. Earth Venture investigations include complete small space missions, spaceborne instruments hosted on other platforms, suborbital and airborne field campaigns, and continuity missions for selected long-term measurements.[1][2]
| Program overview | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Organization | NASA Science Mission Directorate, Earth Science Division |
| Purpose | Lower cost Earth science investigations and technology demonstration |
| Status | Active |
| Program history | |
| Duration | 2009-present |
| Vehicle information | |
| Uncrewed vehicle(s) | Aircraft, balloons, hosted payloads, CubeSats and small satellites |
| Launch vehicle | Various |
NASA established Earth Venture in 2009 in response to the 2007 National Research Council decadal survey, Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond, which recommended a new venture class of low cost research and applications missions to restore more frequent flight opportunities and demonstrate innovative or higher risk technologies.[3] The program is managed for NASA's Science Mission Directorate by the ESSP program office at Langley Research Center.[2]
Purpose and design
editEarth Venture is intended to complement NASA's larger directed Earth observation missions by selecting targeted investigations through open competition. NASA describes the portfolio's goal as providing frequent flight opportunities for high quality, focused Earth science investigations that can be accomplished under a not-to-exceed cost cap and can be developed and flown relatively quickly, generally within five years.[2] Project teams may include universities, industry, government laboratories, federally funded research and development centers, international partners and other organizations selected by the principal investigator.[1]
The program can address any NASA Earth science focus area, including the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, polar ice regions and solid Earth.[1] Its programmatic objectives include advancing scientific knowledge, adding data products to public archives, publishing scientific results, widening the pool of experienced principal investigators and project managers, implementing relevant technologies, and communicating results through education and outreach.[2]
Mission classes
editEarth Venture originally had three strands: Earth Venture Suborbital, Earth Venture Instrument and Earth Venture Mission. NASA later added Earth Venture Continuity after the 2017 Earth science decadal survey recommended a way to maintain key long-term observations at lower cost.[3][4]
| Class | Abbreviation | Scope | Typical characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earth Venture Suborbital | EVS | Airborne, balloon and other suborbital investigations | Five year investigations; cost capped per solicitation; generally solicited about every four years[3] |
| Earth Venture Mission | EVM | Complete small space missions | Small satellite missions or stand-alone payloads; schedule and cost constrained; generally expected to launch within five years of project initiation[2][3] |
| Earth Venture Instrument | EVI | Spaceborne instruments for missions of opportunity | Instruments or CubeSats to be integrated onto NASA-arranged platforms or launch opportunities; generally expected to be delivered within five years[2][3] |
| Earth Venture Continuity | EVC | Low cost approaches for selected continuity measurements | Intended to maintain targeted observations important to long-term Earth science records while encouraging cost reduction and technology infusion[3][4] |
Spaceborne investigations
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Earth Venture's spaceborne selections have used several implementation models, including free-flying small satellites, CubeSat constellations, instruments on the International Space Station, and hosted payloads on commercial or government satellites. Early selections included CYGNSS as the first Earth Venture Mission and TEMPO as the first Earth Venture Instrument.[5]
| Solicitation | Selection | Investigation(s) | Main observing target or application | Accommodation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EVM-1 | 2012 | Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) | Tropical cyclone surface winds | Eight SmallSats[3] |
| EVI-1 | 2012 | Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) | Hourly daytime air pollution over North America | Geostationary hosted payload[5] |
| EVI-2 | 2014 | ECOSTRESS and Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) | Plant water stress and vegetation structure | Instruments on the International Space Station[5] |
| EVI-3 | 2016 | Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA) and Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) | Air pollution health studies and tropical cyclone structure | Hosted instrument and CubeSat constellation[5] |
| EVM-2 | 2016 | Geostationary Carbon Cycle Observatory (GeoCarb) | Greenhouse gases and vegetation health over the Americas | Planned geostationary hosted payload[6] |
| EVI-4 | 2018 | Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) and Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment (PREFIRE) | Mineral dust composition and polar far infrared radiation | ISS instrument and two CubeSats[7] |
| EVI-5 | 2019 | Geosynchronous Littoral Imaging and Monitoring Radiometer (GLIMR) | Coastal ocean biology, chemistry and ecology | Planned geostationary hosted payload[8] |
| EVC-1 | 2020 | Libera | Earth's radiation budget continuity | Instrument on NOAA's Joint Polar Satellite System[4] |
| EVM-3 | 2021 | Investigation of Convective Updrafts (INCUS) | Convective storms and high cloud processes | Three SmallSats[3] |
| EVI-6 | 2022 | Polarized Submillimeter Ice-cloud Radiometer (PolSIR) | Ice clouds in tropical and subtropical regions | Two 16U CubeSats[9] |
GeoCarb became a notable exception to the program's cost and schedule goals. NASA announced in November 2022 that it intended to cancel GeoCarb, citing technical concerns, cost performance, and newer alternative greenhouse gas data sources. The agency said the estimated life cycle cost had grown to more than US$600 million, over three times the capped life cycle cost at selection.[10]
Suborbital investigations
editEarth Venture Suborbital investigations use aircraft and related platforms to collect measurements that can complement satellite observations or test new observing methods. NASA's Office of Inspector General reported in 2017 that the five EVS-1 investigations were completed between fiscal years 2010 and 2016, were well managed, achieved their science requirements within the applicable US$30 million threshold, and used appropriate research platforms.[11]
| Round | Selection or start | Investigations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| EVS-1 | 2010 | AirMOSS, ATTREX, CARVE, DISCOVER-AQ, HS3 | Five proposals were selected from 35 received; topics included soil moisture, stratospheric water vapor, Arctic carbon, air quality and hurricanes.[11] |
| EVS-2 | Fiscal year 2015 start | ACT-America, ATom, CORAL, NAAMES, ORACLES, OMG | Six proposals were selected from 33 received; NASA modified management processes after lessons from EVS-1.[11] |
| EVS-3 | 2018 | DCOTSS, S-MODE, IMPACTS, Delta-X, ACTIVATE | Five proposals were selected from 30 received.[12] |
| EVS-4 | 2024 | FarmFlux, FORTE, HAMAQ, INSPYRE, LACCE, Snow4Flow | Six airborne missions were selected from 42 proposals, with deployments planned at various times from 2026 to 2029.[13][14] |
Reviews and lessons learned
editThe National Academies' 2022 review of Earth Venture Instrument and Earth Venture Mission projects found that the program's foundational principles were competition, principal investigator leadership, cost constraints and schedule constraints. It reported that principal investigators generally viewed their experience positively, but that several instrument missions had been affected by delays in finding or maintaining spacecraft accommodations, and that GeoCarb had experienced major cost growth and schedule delays.[3] The 2017 NASA Office of Inspector General review of Earth Venture Suborbital investigations found EVS-1 successful within its cost thresholds and stated that lessons from EVS-1 led NASA to alter EVS-2 management and oversight practices.[11]
See also
editReferences
edit- 1 2 3 "Earth System Science Pathfinder - NASA Science". NASA Science. NASA. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "LaRC SOMA ESSP Acquisitions". Earth System Science Pathfinder Acquisitions. NASA Langley Research Center. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Summary". Lessons Learned in the Implementation of NASA's Earth Venture Class. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press. 2022. doi:10.17226/26499. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "NASA Selects New Instrument to Continue Key Climate Record" (Press release). NASA. February 26, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "New NASA Instruments to Study Air Pollution, Cyclones". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA. March 10, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- ↑ "NASA Announces First Geostationary Vegetation, Atmospheric Carbon Mission". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA. December 8, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- ↑ "New NASA Space Sensors to Address Key Earth Questions". NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA. February 5, 2018. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- ↑ "NASA Targets Coastal Ecosystems with New Space Sensor" (Press release). NASA. August 1, 2019. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- ↑ "PolSIR". NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Division. NASA. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- ↑ "NASA to Cancel GeoCarb Mission, Expands Greenhouse Gas Portfolio" (Press release). NASA. November 29, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Final Memorandum, Earth Venture Suborbital Investigations (IG-17-013; A-16-019-00) (PDF) (Report). NASA Office of Inspector General. March 13, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- ↑ "Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) Venture-class Science Investigations: Earth Venture Suborbital-3". NSPIRES. NASA. September 19, 2018. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- ↑ "NASA Selects New Aircraft-Driven Studies of Earth and Climate Change". NASA Science. NASA. April 19, 2024. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
- ↑ "Earth Venture Suborbital EVS-4". Earth System Science Pathfinder. NASA. Retrieved June 12, 2026.