NASA may decommission OCO satellites

Context:

Reports indicate NASA was asked to prepare to shut down the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2 and OCO-3) satellites that provide high-precision, space-based CO? and plant-health data.

What are the OCO missions?

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) family are dedicated Earth-observation missions.
Designed to measure atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO?) with high precision.
Objective: Locate sources and sinks of CO? globally.

Key Mission History and Platforms

OCO-1 (2009): Failed to reach orbit due to launch vehicle fairing malfunction.
OCO-2 (2014): Launched into a sun-synchronous polar orbit, providing precise global CO? maps.
OCO-3 (2019): Mounted on the International Space Station (ISS) to complement OCO-2 by observing at different times of day.

Measurements and Importance

Measures column CO? and vegetation “glow” (photosynthetic activity).
Applications:
- Tracking global carbon fluxes (sources/sinks).
- Improving greenhouse-gas inventories at national & global levels.
- Creating high-resolution plant productivity maps for agriculture & drought monitoring.
Enhanced understanding of CO? accumulation rates and mitigation priorities.

Significance for India / Global Policy

Space-based CO? data support international climate reporting (UNFCCC, NDC monitoring).
Useful for agriculture, drought management, and disaster preparedness.
Loss of data would reduce scientific monitoring capacity and policy accountability.