The Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) mission, launched in January 2003, has been an exceptional new tool for laser exploration of the planet - measuring the Earth’s surface and atmosphere in unprecedented three-dimensional detail. ICESat’s measurements have proven the unique capability of spaceborne laser altimetry for a variety of advances in Cryospheric and Earth Sciences. Though ICESat stopped collecting data in October 2009, the data continued to be used by land ice, sea ice, and terrestrial scientists around the world.
+ ICESat Web page