The CALIGOLA Mission: An overview of the present status and the forthcoming steps

^(a) School of Engineering, University of Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, Italy
^(b) Institute of Marine Sciences, Italian National Research Council (ISMAR-CNR), 00133 Rome, Italy
^(c) Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis, Italian National Research Council (IMAA-CNR), 85050 Tito Scalo (PZ), Italy
^(d) Italian Space Agency (ASI), 00133 Rome, Italy
^(e) Leonardo S.p.A, 00071 Pomezia (RM), Italy
^(f) NASA Langley Research Center, MS 475, Hampton, VA, USA
^(g) Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA
^(h) NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
⁽ⁱ⁾ University of Wisconsin-Madison
^(l) University of Utah
^(m) NASA Head Quarters, DK000, Washington, MD, USA Lead Author e-mail address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published online: 9 April 2026

Abstract

The Cloud and Aerosol Lidar for Global Scale Observations of the Ocean-Land-Atmosphere System (CALIGOLA) is an advanced multi-purpose space lidar mission with a focus on observations of the atmosphere and oceans and aimed at characterizing the Ocean-Earth-Atmosphere system and mutual interactions within it. This mission has been conceived by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) with the aim to provide the international atmospheric and ocean science communities with an unprecedented dataset of geophysical parameters, with the ultimate purpose of generating increasing scientific knowledge in the areas of atmospheric, aquatic, terrestrial, cryospheric and hydrological sciences. ASI is partnering with NASA on this exciting new space lidar mission. The mission is planned to be launched in the time frame 2030-2031, with an expected lifetime of 3-5 years, thus allowing data collection over a time period presently not covered by other space lidar missions. CALIGOLA is baselined to fly in an orbit compatible with other NASA missions seeking to advance an understanding of aerosols, clouds and convection for possible formation flight during a portion of CALIGOLA's duration.