Landsat 9, a cooperation between NASA and US Geological Survey (USGS), has seen its September 16th 2021 launch date deferred by the current deficiency in liquid nitrogen brought about by a surge in demand for medical oxygen during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The organization is a continuation of the first Landsat mission launched in 1972 with the objective to track land use and document changes in land because of different natural and manmade influences, for example, environmental change, urbanization, drought and wildfire.
Scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, because of an expanded demand for medical liquid oxygen, delivery of liquid nitrogen by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and provider Airgas has been affected.
DLA and Airgas currently plan to speed up their production of liquid nitrogen in front of the rescheduled launch date of September 23rd 2021.
