Japan Awards Mitsubishi Electric with Contract for Environmentally Focused GOSAT 2 Satellite

Japan’s IBUKI satellite, predecessor to the GOSAT 2. Photo: JAXA

[Via Satellite 12-13-13] Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has been selected as the contractor to supply the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) with the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite 2 (GOSAT 2) satellite system, which is slated to launch in 2017. Mitsubishi Electric expects to be formally authorized to proceed with the development in April, after completing an engineering contract with JAXA to finalize definitive performance requirements.

GOSAT 2 will be the successor to IBUKI (also known as GOSAT), which was launched in January 2009. In addition to providing the spacecraft system, Mitsubishi Electric will provide a turnkey system that includes development of the GOSAT 2’s next-generation sensors and ground system, as well as providing operation services throughout the orbital design life of the satellite.

In the spirit of the Kyoto Protocol, GOSAT 2 is being jointly planned and developed by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment (MOE), the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) and JAXA, as was IBUKI. Its high-performance sensor instrumentation will enable the collection of even more accurate data than was possible with IBUKI.

The GOSAT2 program is an integral initiative of the Proactive Diplomatic Strategy for Countering Global Warming, which was announced by the Japanese government at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conferences of the Parties, COP19. Several other greenhouse-gas observation satellites also are planned, such as the United States’ OCO 2 and Europe’s Carbonsat.