ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won a contract to supply the main component, a Michelson interferometer, for the satellite of the GOSAT-2 mission that will enable the Japanese government to continue and enhance spaceborne measurement of major greenhouse gases.
This contract agreement is with Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, who is the primary equipment supplier for this second Japan’s Greenhouse Gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT-2) program. GOSAT-2 is being jointly developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the National Institute for Environmental Studies, and Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan, and is expected to be launched by JAXA in Japan Fiscal Year 2017.
ABB will supply the Michelson interferometer, the heart of a system that will collect and transmit precise atmospheric measurements from 613 kilometers above the earth. The data is used to ascertain the global distribution of carbon dioxide and methane gases and how the sources and sinks of these gases vary by month, year and location. GOSAT-2, the improved successor of GOSAT-1, will strengthen such observations by using high-performance sensors to provide even more precise measurements and will feature new capabilities to measure carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter.
“ABB is very proud of having been selected to build the GOSAT-2 interferometer. GOSAT-2 relies on the heritage of GOSAT-1 (IBUKI), a highly successful satellite on-orbit since 2009. ABB has provided technologies for Japanese space programs in over 20 years, and our team is fully dedicated to the GOSAT program. The technology used also relies very much on the ACE-FTS instrument that ABB built for the Canadian Space Agency for the Scisat satellite” said Marc-Andre Soucy, Space and Defense Systems Director at ABB Measurement & Analytics Business Unit.
GOSAT-2 will feature a range of highly advanced instruments, including greenhouse gas and cloud/aerosol sensors, which contributed to the Proactive Diplomatic Strategy for Countering Global Warming announced by the Japanese government at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 19) in Warsaw, Poland in 2013.
