CALIPSO initially flew in the international "A-Train" constellation for coincident Earth observations until September 13, 2018 when it began lowering its orbit from 705 km to 688 km (428 miles) above the Earth to resume formation flying with CloudSat as part of the "C-Train".

The CALIPSO satellite comprised three instruments: the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP Lidar), the Imaging Infrared Radiometer (IIR), and the Wide Field Camera (WFC). CloudSat also flew in formation with CALIPSO to provide a comprehensive characterization of the structure and composition of clouds and their effects on climate under all weather conditions. This comprehensive set of measurements is essential for accurate quantification of global aerosol and cloud radiative effects to understand their role in formation and variation of Earth's climate.

CALIPSO was a cooperative mission partnership between NASA and the French Space Agency, CNES. Accurate climate model predictions provide international and national leaders accurate information to make more informed policy decisions about global climate change.

NASA and CNES agreed to end the CALIPSO science mission on August 1, 2023. The mission has been highly successful. Designed for a lifetime of 3 years, CALIPSO delivered unprecedented measurements of the vertical structure of the Earth's atmosphere for 17 years.