GOLD is the first NASA mission to fly as a hosted payload on a commercial communications satellite. GOLD is onboard on the SES-14 satellite.
Launch date: January 25, 2018
Launch location: Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana
Launch vehicle: Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket
Mission target: Earth’s ionosphere and thermosphere
Mission duration: 2-year nominal mission at geostationary orbit; extended mission possible",
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"credits": [
{
"role": "Animator",
"people": [
{
"name": "Chris Meaney",
"employer": "KBR Wyle Services, LLC"
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{
"role": "Technical support",
"people": [
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"name": "Aaron E. Lepsch",
"employer": "ADNET Systems, Inc."
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"missions": [
"Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD)"
],
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"nasa_science_categories": [
"Sun"
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"keywords": [
"Earth Science",
"Gold",
"Ionosphere",
"Ionosphere/Magnetosphere Dynamics",
"Location",
"Space Weather",
"Sun-earth Interactions"
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"related": [
{
"id": 12825,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12825/",
"page_type": "Infographic",
"title": "GOLD Resources",
"description": "The Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk, or GOLD, mission is designed to explore the nearest reaches of space. Capturing never-before-seen images of Earth’s upper atmosphere, GOLD explores in unprecedented detail our space environment — which is home to astronauts, radio signals used to guide airplanes and ships, as well as satellites that provide communications and GPS systems. The more we know about the fundamental physics of this region of space, the more we can protect our assets there.Gathering observations from geostationary orbit above the Western Hemisphere, GOLD measures the temperature and composition of neutral gases in Earth’s thermosphere. This part of the atmosphere co-mingles with the ionosphere, which is made up of charged particles. Both the Sun from above and terrestrial weather from below can change the types, numbers, and characteristics of the particles found here — and GOLD helps track those changes.Activity in this region is responsible for a variety of key space weather events. GOLD scientists are particularly interested in the cause of dense, unpredictable bubbles of charged gas that appear over the equator and tropics, sometimes causing communication problems. As we discover the very nature of the Sun-Earth interaction in this region, the mission could ultimately lead to ways to improve forecasts of such space weather and mitigate its effects. || ",
"release_date": "2018-01-24T12:00:00-05:00",
"update_date": "2023-05-03T13:47:01.592504-04:00",
"main_image": {
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"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012800/a012825/ElsayedTalaat.00001_print.jpg",
"filename": "ElsayedTalaat.00001_print.jpg",
"media_type": "Image",
"alt_text": "Canned interview with NASA Scientist Elsayed Talaat looking off camera. Soundbites are separated by slates. Full title: Elsayed Talaat, Heliophysics Chief Scientist, NASA Headquarters, Washington Complete transcript available.",
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{
"id": 12817,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12817/",
"page_type": "Produced Video",
"title": "Why NASA Is Exploring The Edge Of Our Planet",
"description": "The Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk, or GOLD, instrument launches aboard a commercial communications satellite in January 2018 to inspect the dynamic intermingling of space and Earth’s uppermost atmosphere. Together, GOLD and another NASA mission, Ionospheric Connection Explorer spacecraft, or ICON, will provide the most comprehensive of Earth’s upper atmosphere we’ve ever had.Above the ozone layer, the ionosphere is a part of Earth’s atmosphere where particles have been cooked into a sea of electrically-charged electrons and ions by the Sun’s radiation. The ionosphere is co-mingled with the very highest — and quite thin — layers of Earth’s neutral upper atmosphere, making this region an area that is constantly in flux undergoing the push-and-pull between Earth’s conditions and those in space. Increasingly, these layers of near-Earth space are part of the human domain, as it’s home not only to astronauts, but to radio signals used to guide airplanes and ships, and satellites that provide our communications and GPS systems. Understanding the fundamental processes that govern our upper atmosphere and ionosphere is crucial to improve situational awareness that helps protect astronauts, spacecraft and humans on the ground.GOLD, in geostationary orbit over the Western Hemisphere, will build up a full-disk view of the ionosphere and upper atmosphere every half hour, providing detailed large-scale measurements of related processes — a cadence which makes it the first mission to be able to monitor the true weather of the upper atmosphere. GOLD is also able to focus in on a tighter region and scan more quickly, to complement additional research plans as needed. || ",
"release_date": "2018-01-05T13:00:00-05:00",
"update_date": "2023-05-03T13:47:03.970975-04:00",
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"media_type": "Image",
"alt_text": "Complete transcript available.Music credits: 'Faint Glimmer' by Andrew John Skeet [PRS], Andrew Michael Britton [PRS], David Stephen Goldsmith [PRS], 'Ocean Spirals' by Andrew John Skeet [PRS], Andrew Michael Britton [PRS], David Stephen Goldsmith [PRS] from Killer Tracks.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.",
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"products": [
{
"id": 14835,
"url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14835/",
"page_type": "Produced Video",
"title": "What Happened During the Biggest Geomagnetic Storm in Over 20 Years",
"description": "On May 10, 2024, the first G5 or “severe” geomagnetic storm in over two decades hit Earth. The event did not cause any catastrophic damages, but it did produce surprising effects on Earth. The storm, which has been called the best-documented geomagnetic storm in history, spread auroras to unusually low latitudes and produced effects spanning from the ground to near-Earth space. Data captured during this historic event will be analyzed for years to come, revealing new lessons about the nature of geomagnetic storms and how best to weather them.Learn more:• What NASA Is Learning from the Biggest Geomagnetic Storm in 20 Years• How NASA Tracked the Most Intense Solar Storm in Decades || ",
"release_date": "2025-05-09T15:00:00-04:00",
"update_date": "2025-07-18T12:09:29.461432-04:00",
"main_image": {
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"media_type": "Image",
"alt_text": "Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Music credits: “Set in the Sky” by Nicholas Smith [PRS]; “Constant Motion”, “Future Now”, and “Currents” by Ben Niblett [PRS] and Jon Cotton [PRS]; “Bow Down To Me” by Max Cameron Concors [ASCAP] and Victoria Faith Beaumont [PRS]; “Moto Perpetuo” by Laurent Dury [SACEM]. Aurora imagery is used with permission. Aurora credits in order of appearance: Neil Zeller, Randell Sean Inoc, Xicao Liu, Bill Dunford, Shelley Tonkin, Alistair Luckman, Shane Turgeon, Kimberly Sibbald, Kylie Reid, Adam Block, Darius Yeoh, William Hudson, Quinn Keon.",
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