OCOs measurements are designed to be accurate enough to show for the first time the geographic distribution of carbon dioxide sources and sinks on a regional scale. The data is planned to improve the understanding of the global carbon cycle, the natural processes and human activities that influence the abundance and distribution of the greenhouse gas. This improved understanding is expected to enable more reliable forecasts of future changes in the abundance and distribution of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the effect that these changes may have on Earths climate.
The OCO spacecraft was provided by Orbital Sciences Corporation. During its two-year mission, OCO will fly in a near polar orbit which enables the instrument to observe most of Earths surface at least once every sixteen days. It is intended to fly in loose formation with a series of other Earth-orbiting satellites known as the Earth Observing System Afternoon Constellation, or the A-train. This coordinated flight formation was intended to enable researchers to correlate OCO data with data acquired by other instruments on other spacecraft. In particular, Earth scientists would like to compare OCO data with nearly simultaneous measurements acquired by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard NASAs Aqua satellite and ground-based data from the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON). Alignment with the A-train demands a particularly short launch window of 30 seconds.
The original cost of the mission was . It was sponsored by NASAs Earth System Science Pathfinder Program. NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages OCO for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.