The United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket soars upward with NASA's ICESat-2 after launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. ( Image: NASA)

NASA's most advanced space satellite designed to precisely measure changes in Earth's ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice and vegetation around the world was launched from Vandenberg Air Force base in California on September 15, 2018. 

The USD 1 billion, half-ton ICESat-2 launched aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force base at 6:02 am (local time). 

All about the ICESat-2

The ICESat-2 satellite undergoes tests one last time before it is placed in the rocket. ( Image: NASA/USAF 30th Space Wing/Timothy Trenkle)

ICESat-2 is short for Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2

ICESat-2 will orbit Earth carrying a photon-counting laser altimeter, ATLAS (Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System)

This instrument will measure height by determining how long it takes photons to travel from the spacecraft to Earth and back

Each pulse will release about 20 trillion photons

The laser will measure the slope and height of the ice, not just the area it covers

The Delta II payload fairing is installed around NASA's ICESat-2. ( Image: NASA)

The new laser will fire 10,000 pulses of green light in one second, compared to the original ICESat which fired 40 times a second

With this incredibly fast pulse rate, ATLAS can take measurements every 2.3 feet (0.7 metres) along the satellite's ground path

ICESat-2 will also survey heights of the world's forests, lakes, urban areas, cloud cover and more, adding a detailed third dimension to flat images of Earth from space

Engineers building and testing the Advance Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) for the ICESat-2 mission at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. ( Image: NASA)

"The mission will gather enough data to estimate the annual elevation change in the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets even if it's as slight as four millimeters - the width of a No.  2 pencil," NASA said in a statement. 

Objective behind launching ICESat-2

ICESat-2 will measure the height of ice and its features, such as this glacial melt pond photographed July 16, 2014, over Alaska. ( Image: NASA)

The mission will provide insight into Earth's frozen regions -- the Cryosphere -- which is rapidly changing with our warming climate.  Melting glaciers and polar land ice contribute to rising sea levels.  Shrinking sea ice changes Earth's energy budget and can modify ocean circulation patterns that buffer climate extremes.  With ICESat-2's frequent and precise measurements of elevation, scientists will be able to see where ice is flowing, melting or growing and can investigate the global impacts of these changes.  In forested areas, height information will help researchers calculate how much carbon is stored in trees. 

All about the first ICESat

The first ICESat was launched on January 12, 2003.(Image: NASA)

The first ICESat was launched in 2003 and ended in 2009. 

It revealed that sea ice was thinning, and ice cover was disappearing from coastal areas in Greenland and Antarctica. 

The launch of ICESat-2 marks the first time in nearly a decade that NASA has had a tool in orbit to measure ice sheet surface elevation across the globe. 

The mission is meant to last three years but has enough fuel to continue for 10, if mission managers decide to extend its life. 

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