Land Remote-Sensing Satellite, operated by the U.S. Earth Observation Satellite Company (EOSAT). Commercialized under the Land Remote-Sensing Commercialization Act of 1984, Landsat is a series of satellites (formerly called ERTS) designed to gather data on the Earth's resources in a regular and systematic manner. Objectives of the mission are: land use inventory, geological/mineralogical exploration, crop and forestry assessment, and cartography. (source #2)