Some of the remote sensing satellites launched by various countries( In the parenthesis) are given below. They have been grouped into three categories according to their functions.

Group 1 Primarily Land Observers:

Landsat (1-6) (1973); Seasat (1978); HCMM (1978); SPOT (France) (1-3) (1986); RESURS (Russia) (1985); IRS(1A-1D) (India) (1986); ERS (1-2) (1991); JERS (1-2) (Japan) (1992); Radarsat (Canada) (1995); ADEOS (Japan) (1996) (Note 1: SIR-A (1981), (Note: SIR-A (1981), SIR-B (1984), and SIR-C (1994) are radar systems flown on Space Shuttles; a Laser Altimeter also flew on Shuttle)(Note also: many of the meteorological satellites produce lower resolution images of the land that have proved useful)

Group 2 Primarily Meteorological Observers:

TIROS (1-9) (1960); Nimbus (1-7) (1964); ESSA (1-9) (1966); ATS(g) (1-3) (1966); DMSP series I (1966); the Russian Kosmos (1968) and Meteor series (1969); ITOS series (1970); SMS(g) (1975); GOES(g) series (1975); NOAA (1-5) (1976); DMSP series 2 (1976); GMS series (Japan)9 (1977); Meteosat(g) series (Europe) (1978); TIROS-N series (1978); Bhaskara (India) (1979); NOAA (6-14) (1982); Insat (1983); ERBS (1984); MOS (Japan) (1987); UARS (1991); TRMM (U.S./Japan) (1997)(Note 1: g = geostationary) (Note 2: Nimbus also observed general land formations; e.g., Nimbus 6 carried SCMR, an experimental sensor designed to obtain information on surface composition)

Group 3 Major use in Oceanography:

Seasat (1978); Nimbus 7 (1978) included the CZCS, the Coastal Zone Color Scanner that measures chlorophyll concentration in seawater; Topex-Poseidon (1992); SeaWiFS (1997)