Science
AQUA
Earth Water Cycle · NASA
Right now
LiveIt moves every second. See exactly where it is — worked out from its orbit, on your own device — on the live 3D globe.
- Over
- —
- Altitude
- —
- Speed
- —
NASA's water-focused Earth observer studies the entire water cycle simultaneously — ocean temperatures, atmospheric water vapor, precipitation, soil moisture, sea ice, and land ice. Its AIRS instrument measures atmospheric temperature profiles with radiosonde accuracy from orbit, and its data is in every major global weather forecast model running today.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 428–430 mi (689–691 km)
- Inclination
- 98.4°
- One orbit
- 98.4 minutes14.6 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 27424
- Int’l designator
- 2002-022A
- Launched
- 2002
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
More science
- ARASE (ERG)Van Allen Radiation Belt Science Satellite
- ARCSAT-1Technology Demonstrator
- ARCTIC WEATHER SATELLITEMeteorology / technology demonstration
- ARIRANG-2 (KOMPSAT-2)Earth Observation
- ARIRANG-3 (KOMPSAT-3)Very High Resolution Imaging
- ARIRANG-5 (KOMPSAT-5)SAR Imaging