Deep Space Climate Observatory

DSCOVR, Triana, GoreSat

Mission Profile

DSCOVR (Deep Space Climate Observatory, originally Triana/GoreSat) is a NOAA space weather monitoring spacecraft launched on 11 February 2015 aboard a Falcon 9 to the Sun-Earth L1 Lagrange point, where it monitors the solar wind approaching Earth with typically 15-45 minutes advance warning time. Originally proposed by Vice President Al Gore in 1998 as an Earth-imaging climate observatory — earning the nickname GoreSat — the spacecraft languished in storage for over a decade before being repurposed for NOAA's critical space weather monitoring mission. DSCOVR's EPIC camera provides continuous full-disk color images of the sunlit Earth, while its NISTAR radiometer measures Earth's reflected solar and emitted infrared energy. The solar wind data from DSCOVR's plasma and magnetic field instruments is essential for operational space weather forecasting protecting power grids, satellites, and aviation.