Science
ICESAT-2
Laser Altimetry / Ice Measurement · 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.
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NASA's ICESat-2 fires 10,000 laser pulses per second and times returning photons with picosecond precision — measuring ice sheet height to within 1 centimeter. Its measurements revealed Greenland's ice sheet is losing mass 6 times faster than in the 1990s. One laser beam aimed at melting ice, producing numbers that reshape our understanding of sea level rise.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 299–304 mi (481–489 km)
- Inclination
- 92.0°
- One orbit
- 94.2 minutes15.3 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 43613
- Int’l designator
- 2018-070A
- Launched
- 2018
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.