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Japan on Monday launched a satellite for monitoring greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere. The GOSAT-2 satellite took off aboard an H-IIA rocket during a twelve-minute window opening at 13:08 local time (04:08 UTC).
GOSAT-2, which will be named Ibuki 2 in space, succeeds the Ibuki satellite launched in 2009. GOSAT-2 will continue Ibuki's mission of recording long-term measurements of gas levels. Greenhouse effect in the Earth's atmosphere – contributing to climate change research and helping scientists predict future changes with greater certainty.
The improvements to the satellite compared to its predecessor will also allow it to improve ecosystem models and emission sources, such as forest fires and oceans. A new goal for GOSAT-2 will be to investigate how humans and climate change have affected the carbon cycle on the subcontinental scale. The data collected by GOSAT-2 will help guide the Japanese government's policies on climate change, as well as influence the international community.
GOSAT-2 will monitor greenhouse gases from a circular heliosynchronous orbit at an altitude of 613 km (381 miles, 331 nautical miles) and an inclination of 97.84 degrees, revisiting each point observation every three days. Like its predecessor, GOSAT-2 will observe levels of carbon dioxide, methane, ozone and water vapor in the atmosphere. However, it will also monitor levels of carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide.
The original GOSAT, dubbed Ibuki after reaching orbit, was launched at the H-IIA summit on January 23, 2009. Designed for a five-year mission, Ibuki continues to collect data as it approaches its tenth anniversary in orbit. GOSAT-2 will be able to detect carbon dioxide concentrations up to 0.5 parts per million and methane concentrations up to 5 parts per billion, compared with 4 parts per million and 34 parts per billion with the old satellite.
GOSAT-2 is equipped with a set of two instruments, a thermal sensor and an infrared sensor for the observation of carbon – or TANSO. It is a Fourier transform spectrometer (TANSO-FTS-2) and a cloud and aerosol imager (TANSO-CAI-2). TANSO-FTS-2 is the main instrument for the satellite to record the concentration of each greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Built by Harris Corporation, the instrument incorporates an intelligent pointing system to detect clouds in its field of view and to determine cloudless areas that will produce more usable data.
TANSO-CAI-2 uses forward and backward push-pull imagers to visually observe aerosols and clouds. This also incorporates an RGB camera that will be used to detect clouds, applying an algorithm – Intellectual Decision Algorithm of Influence on Clouds and Aerosols (CLAUDIA) to exclude cloud regions from data calculations.
GOSAT-2 was built by Mitsubishi Electric (MELCO). It is a 1,800-kilogram (3,970-lb) spacecraft with two solar panels producing five kilowatts of power. GOSAT-2 has a conceptual life of five years.
GOSAT-2 has been joined by several small satellites for travel in orbit. The largest of them is KhalifaSat, a 330 kilogram (728 lb) earth observation satellite intended for the United Arab Emirates. Built in partnership with the Emirates Institute for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) and South Korea's SATREC initiative, KhalifaSat is based on SATREC's SI-300 platform and is expected to operate for five years. The satellite, known as DubaiSat-3 at the beginning of its development, is an improved version of DubaiSat-2, launched by a Dnepr rocket in 2013.
The satellite project PROITERES-2 ("Space-Rocket Engine") has been developed by the Osaka Institute of Technology.
The satellite, stabilized on three axes through a gravity ramp and magnetometers, will demonstrate the electric propulsion of small satellites using miniaturized ionic thrusters. He will also carry out experiments to study the propagation of radio signals. resolution camera.
It follows PROITERES initial, which was launched in 2012 and which has completed its mission, despite communication problems in the days following its launch. A third PROITERES mission, to be launched later, will try to use ionic propulsion to reach the Moon.
Diwata-2B is a 55.9-kilogram (123-lb) satellite that was built and will be operated by PHL-Microsat of the Philippines. Diwata is equipped with a series of imagery payloads to monitor agriculture and vegetation, weather conditions, natural disasters and other areas of interest such as landmarks and heritage sites. In addition to these instruments, Diwata-2B contains an amateur radio payload to promote public interest in the mission and amateur radio in general.
The Kyushu Institute of Technology's Tenkou satellite will be used to study the effects of space exposure on materials that could be incorporated into future spacecraft. Also equipped with a radio load, the 23 kilogram satellite has an unusual polyhedral shape.
Two single-unit CubeSats are also part of Monday's payloads. These satellites have a cubic shape and sides of 10 centimeters (3.9 inches). Astronomical observations "Stars-AO" from Shizuoka University will demonstrate the use of a miniaturized satellite for astronomy, while AUTcube-2 automobile from Aichi University of Technology will be used for a series radio and optical communications experiments.
AUTcube-2 also features cameras that will be used to generate a virtual reality model of the spatial environment. Stars-AO has a mass of 1.4 kg (3.1 lb), while AUTcube-2 has a mass of 1.6 kg (3.5 lb). Both CubeSats are transported in J-POD dispensers.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA, the Japanese DIY rocket, had the habit of putting GOSAT-2 and its co-passengers into orbit. The H-IIA, which flew for the first time in August 2001, was making its fortieth flight.
The H-IIA on the way to the pad before launch – via JAXA
H-IIA, a two-stage rocket, has flown in its configuration 202, which uses a pair of SRB-A3 solid rocket engines to complete its first takeoff stage. The 202 is the lightest version of the H-IIA – the 204 alternative configuration uses four SRB-A3 engines, while two intermediate versions of the rocket using a mixture of SRB-A and Castor-4AXL engines were removed in 2008. The launch of Monday has flight number F40.
The mission was launched from the first platform of the JAXA launch complex at Yoshinobu, which is part of the Tanegashima Space Center. This launch pad was built for the H-II rocket in the 1990s and was used for all H-IIA launches. The Yoshinobu complex includes two launch platforms. The second was originally built as a backup for the H-IIA, but is used for H-IIB launches.
H-IIA uses cryogenic propellants – liquid hydrogen oxidized by liquid oxygen – in its first and second stages. The first step is powered by an LE-7A engine, which is powered up two to three seconds before the scheduled takeoff time, called X-0 for Japanese launches. Once the X-0 mark was reached, the SRB-A3 engines started and the H-IIA F40 began to climb into orbit. SRB-A3 engines burned during the first 108 seconds of flight before extinguishing, separating 18 seconds later.
The top of the H-IIA payload fairing separated from the rocket on the first flight – approximately four minutes and twenty seconds after launch. For Monday's mission, the H-IIA was equipped with a 4 / 4D-LC fairing, with upper and lower sections to accommodate multiple satellites. GOSAT-2 was in a high position, while KhalifaSat and smaller payloads were in the lower berth. When the upper part separated, the H-IIA was at an altitude of about 131 km (81 miles, 71 nautical miles) and the fairing was no longer needed to protect GOSAT-2 from the Earth's atmosphere. .
The first stage continued to burn for the first six minutes and thirty-eight seconds of the launch, carrying the second stage and payload at an altitude of 271 kilometers (168 miles) and at a speed of 3.4 km / s (2.1 km). miles per second, 7.600 miles per hour). The worn scene was discarded eight seconds after burnout, with the second step starting to burn nine seconds after separation.
The flight profile of this mission – via JAXA
The second stage of the H-IIA is powered by an LE-5B engine. Although it can be restarted, it was only asked to burn at Monday's launch. This lasted eight minutes and 31 seconds, placing GOSAT-2 directly into its initial orbit. The satellite is separated fifty seconds after the end of the second combustion stage.
After the separation of GOSAT-2, the second step is redirected to separate the remaining parts of the payload fairing. The dual payload adapter was released three minutes and 35 seconds after GOSAT separation, with the bottom of the fairing separating five seconds later. KhalifaSat was deployed after four minutes and twenty-five seconds, which gave the time for the stage to reorient itself again.
The remaining satellites are separated in the next half hour. Tenkou is separated eight minutes and 59 seconds after KhalifaSat, followed by PROITERES-2, Diwata-2B and Stars-AO every five minutes. AUTcube-2 was the last payload to separate from the H-IIA F40, deploying at 51 minutes, two minutes and 40 seconds after Stars-AO.
Monday's launch was the sixth and last of 2018 for Japan – and the third flight of the year for the H-IIA. Japan began in 2018 with the launch of ASNARO-2 aboard an Epsilon rocket in January, while in February, a three-stage experimental version of the SS-520 rocket probe was in orbit a simple CubeSat, TRICOM-1R. In February and June, H-IIA missions deployed reconnaissance satellites for the information gathering satellite (IGS) constellation. Last month, the more powerful H-IIB launched the Kounotori 7 supply ship to the International Space Station.
The next launch of Japan is expected to be that of an Epsilon rocket in the first quarter of 2019, carrying the RAPIS-1 technology demonstration satellite.
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