Harris has provided an environmental monitoring sensor for Japan’s Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite-2 (GOSAT-2).
The newly built Thermal and Near Infrared Sensor for Carbon Observation-Fourier Transform Spectrometer-2 (TANSO-FTS-2) has been delivered to Mitsubishi Electric, which is developing the satellite for the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
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TANSO-FTS-2 is designed to measure the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
It is also capable of gathering high-spectral resolution data in five bands, allowing measurement of the Earth during daylight and darkness.
TANSO-FTS-2 features an intelligent pointing system that identifies Cloud-free areas of the atmosphere in real time and helps increase the amount of useable data.
This marks the third instrument delivered by Harris to Japan over the last few years. The other instruments provided by Harris included two advanced imagers for the Himawari-8 and 9 weather satellites, which launched in 2014 and 2016, respectively.
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By GlobalDataHarris Environmental Solutions vice-president and general manager Roberto Mitrevski said: “GOSAT is the cornerstone of Japan’s space-based climate programme.
“The Harris instrument will provide Japan with improved measurement capability and positions us well for follow-on GOSAT and other missions.”
Scheduled to launch this year, GOSAT-2 aims to measure carbon dioxide at 0.5ppm and methane at 5ppb.
With a life span of five years, the satellite is expected to be launched aboard the H-IIA Launch Vehicle.
GOSAT-2 will also be equipped with the Thermal And Near Infrared Sensor for carbon Observation – Cloud and Aerosol Imager (TANSO-CAI-2) instrument.
