The Atlas-5 heavy launch vehicle on Monday launches into orbit with the new Earth remote sensing satellite Landsat 9 for NASA and the US Geological Survey, operator United Launch Alliance (ULA) said..

The launch is planned to be carried out at 14:11 US East Coast time (21:11 Moscow time) from the SLC-3E launch complex at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

An apparatus with the most advanced optical and infrared equipment will be launched into orbit, which allows receiving information about global climate changes, monitoring the situation with the planet's natural resources, including water and agricultural. Landsat 9 will transmit over 700 images of the Earth's surface per day.

The satellite, which will be launched into orbit with an altitude of about 700 km, is an integral part of the Landsat program for obtaining satellite images of the Earth.. The first of the Earth remote sensing devices of the Landsat series was launched in 1972, and the last (eighth) was launched into orbit in February 2013.