A satellite is a body at orbits around another body in space. There are two different types of satellites – natural and man-made. Examples of natural satellites are the Earth and Moon. The Earth rotates around the Sun and the Moon rotates around the Earth.

A man-made satellite is a machine that is launched into space and orbits around a body in space. Examples of man-made satellites include the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station.

Man-made satellites come in many shapes and size and have different pieces of instruments on them to perform different functions while in space. Satellites are built by engineers and take months sometimes even years to build. The satellites have to endure many tests to make sure the satellite can withstand the launch and the harsh environment of space.

NASA establishes missions for a specific purpose and the engineers develop a satellite to perform the necessary functions for that mission. Once the satellite is launched into space, Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) provides the channel of communication for the data to go to and from the Earth and the satellite. These communications include commands to the spacecraft as well as the scientific data coming to Earth.

Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) supports over 100 satellites from ones that look down at Earth and observe changes, such as: Aqua, Aura and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)...

...to ones that look at the Sun and see the effect of solar winds on the Earth, such as the Solar Dynamics Observer (SDO) and the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO)...

...to ones that look at the Moon and the planets, such as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)…

...to ones that look at the origins of the universe like the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Spitzer Space Telescope (SST).

› SCaN Missions – complete list of missions supported by SCaN and pictures of each satellite