Designed for earth observation (Earth Science), SMAP is a government satellite operated by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (USA).

Delivered via Delta 2 (launch vehicle) from Vandenberg AFB, it was launched into space on 31 January 2015 and orbits the Earth as a sun-synchronous LEO satellite. SMAP was constructed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA) (USA).

SMAP is designed to operate in space for a lifetime of 3 years. It orbits around the Earth with the COSPAR ID 2015-003A and NORAD ID 40376.

With an orbital eccentricity of 1.85E-03, the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, is 660km while its apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, is 686km. It takes 98 minutes to orbit the Earth at an inclination of 98 degrees to the equatorial plane of the Earth.

 Compare SMAP with Starlink-2579 from USA.

 Compare SMAP with Sentinel 3A from ESA.