GOSAT 1’s August 2013 Monthly Global CO2 Map. Credit: Japan’s National Institute for Environmental Studies

[Via Satellite 05-22-2014] Exelis received a multimillion-dollar commercial contract to build the primary payload for the second Greenhouse Gas Observing Satellite (GOSAT 2). The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) satellite will use an Exelis-built Thermal and Near Infrared Sensor for carbon Observation-Fourier Transform Spectrometer (TANSO-FTS) to measure atmospheric greenhouse gas density.

“This award was a strategic win for Exelis as we move into climate and environmental monitoring to build on our core weather-monitoring capabilities,” said Roberto Mitrevski, vice president of environmental intelligence/integrated sensing and information solutions at Exelis.

Mitsubishi Electric is building GOSAT 2, which is scheduled to launch in 2018. Observations from GOSAT 2 are expected to provide better data about how greenhouse gases are distributed, enabling scientists to better understand climate change.