NASA Awards $15.9 Million to Extend UMD-Led GEDI Mission Through 2029

The International Space Station orbiting in outer space above Earth. Below, the glowing blue curvature of the Earth displays ocean waters, landmasses, and white cloud formations under a thin atmospheric limb. Above, the deep black background of space is filled with stars and a brightly glowing Milky Way galaxy band.

Space-based lidar mission will continue measuring the three-dimensional structure of Earth's forests from the International Space Station. 

NASA has selected the University of Maryland-led Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) for a third mission extension, awarding $15.9 million to continue science operations aboard the International Space Station (ISS) through October 2029. The decision follows NASA's 2026 Senior Review, which evaluated the scientific value and operational performance of the agency's Earth-observing missions.

GEDI is led by UMD in partnership with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Its principal investigator is Distinguished University Professor Ralph Dubayah in the Department of Geographical Sciences.

Launched in December 2018, GEDI began collecting science data in March 2019 with an original mission duration of two years. Using light detection and ranging (lidar) technology, the instrument has collected billions of three-dimensional observations of Earth's forests, providing unprecedented information about forest height, canopy structure and aboveground biomass. These measurements help scientists estimate how much carbon forests store, understand their role in the global carbon cycle and assess how disturbances such as wildfires and deforestation affect forest ecosystems, carbon stocks and biodiversity.

NASA Review Affirms Mission's Scientific Value

NASA periodically reviews its Earth science missions operating beyond their original lifetimes. Independent experts evaluate each mission's scientific contributions, relevance to national interests, technical performance and cost risks to determine whether continued operations merit the investment.

In the 2026 review, GEDI received an Excellent/Very Good rating for overall science, a High rating for its utility to national interests and favorable Low ratings for both technical and cost risks. The mission has supported more than 800 scientific publications, including more than 40 in Nature and Science family journals. 

Outdoor portrait of a smiling older man with wavy white hair and a trimmed gray beard, wearing a white and blue striped button-down shirt, standing in front of a tree trunk and green foliage.Distinguished University Professor Ralph Dubayah 

"GEDI has been extraordinarily successful as a mission," Dubayah said. "It provides the only spaceborne lidar observations specifically designed to retrieve forest canopy structure in dense forests. These measurements are fundamentally changing our ability to characterize the world's forests and understand how they are changing."

The extension will bring GEDI's record of forest observations to nearly a decade. Such long-term measurements are essential for understanding the balance between forest disturbance and regrowth and how these processes affect the global carbon cycle.

"One of the most important questions in climate science is how much carbon forests are absorbing and storing, and how that is changing over time," Dubayah said. "By continuing these observations, we can better understand how forests respond to fire, deforestation and other disturbances, how quickly they recover, and what those changes mean for ecosystem resilience and the global carbon budget."

GEDI data also have important practical applications. Detailed measurements of forest structure can improve predictions of wildfire behavior, help scientists assess post-fire recovery and support the management and conservation of forest ecosystems.

"The continuity of GEDI was a priority for the scientific community because these observations are so unique," Dubayah said. "The additional years of measurements will provide an invaluable record of ecosystem change that simply cannot be recreated once the mission ends."

GEDI Lays Groundwork for Next-Generation Lidar Mission

The extension will also help ensure continuity with NASA's next generation of spaceborne lidar observations. The Earth Dynamics Geodetic Explorer (EDGE), selected by NASA in 2026 and currently planned for launch in 2030, builds on the scientific and technological foundation GEDI established. EDGE will use a new swath-imaging lidar approach to provide three-dimensional measurements of terrestrial ecosystem structure on a global scale. The mission will also measure the surface topography of Earth's ice sheets and glaciers.

The Department of Geographical Sciences is a major partner in EDGE. Associate Professor John Armston serves as deputy principal investigator and leads the mission's terrestrial ecosystem structure science. Dubayah, Professor George Hurtt, Associate Professor Laura Duncanson and Research Professor Michelle Hofton are also co-investigators.

"GEDI has pioneered a new era of space-based lidar observations of Earth's forests, and EDGE will take these capabilities to the next level," Dubayah said. "Together, the missions represent a sustained effort to understand the three-dimensional structure of Earth's ecosystems and how they are changing. The continuity between GEDI and EDGE is especially important for the future of terrestrial ecosystem science."

Image: The International Space Station (ISS) in orbit above Earth, home to the UMD-led NASA Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) lidar instrument / Adobe Stock
 

Published on Wed, 11/11/2026 - 09:37