Landsat 9 Returns to Normal Operations Following Brief Safehold
Landsat 9’s image collection was briefly interrupted in October after a sensor monitoring the position of the solar array began sending noisy data, triggering the satellite to enter safe mode.
Landsat 9’s control system automatically placed the satellite into a safe operational mode, known as a safehold, and suspended data acquisitions. The U.S. Geological Survey’s Landsat Flight Operations team responded quickly to detect and resolve the issue and minimize downtime. The satellite, which launched in September 2021 with a five-year design life, experienced no lasting impacts from the anomaly.
The safehold lasted for six days. It began on Friday, October 17, 2025 (DOY 290) at 11:31 a.m. CDT (16:31z), and the mission returned to nominal spacecraft operations at 11:37 a.m. CDT (16:37z) on October 23, 2025 (DOY 296). Nominal science mission operations and data collection resumed after system checkouts were successful.
Please note: Landsat 9 did not collect any data during the safehold.
The data acquired by the satellite's Operational Land Imager (OLI) sensor and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) on October 23rd and October 24th continue to be evaluated by the Landsat Calibration/Validation Team. Upon the team’s final assessment and expected approval, these data will be released for product generation and made available for download from the Landsat data access portals