Science
SMAP
Soil Moisture Monitor · NASA / JPL
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.
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NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive satellite carries the largest spinning mesh antenna ever deployed in space — 6 meters across — to measure the moisture content of Earth's soil globally. Soil moisture determines whether rainfall floods rivers or recharges groundwater, making SMAP essential for flood forecasting, drought monitoring, and understanding how climate change alters water availability for world agriculture.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 426–427 mi (685–688 km)
- Inclination
- 98.1°
- One orbit
- 98.3 minutes14.6 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 40376
- Int’l designator
- 2015-003A
- Launched
- 2015
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.