Himawari (satellites)

GMS, the first generation of Himawari

The Himawari (ひまわり, “sunflower”) geostationary satellites, operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), support weather forecasting, tropical cyclone tracking, and meteorology research. Most meteorological agencies in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand use the satellites for their own weather monitoring and forecasting operations.

Originally also named Geostationary Meteorological Satellites (GMS),[1] since the launch of GMS-1 (Himawari 1) in 1977, there have been three generations, including GMS, MTSAT, and Himawari 8/9. Himawari 8/9 satellites are currently available for operational use.

Status

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Name Launch date
(UTC)
Retirement Rocket Launch site
GMS-1 [ja; pt] (Himawari 1) 14 Jul 1977 30 Jun 1989 Delta 2914 Cape Canaveral
GMS-2 [ja; pt] (Himawari 2) 11 Aug 1981 20 Nov 1987 N-II (N8F) Tanegashima
GMS-3 [ja; pt] (Himawari 3) 3 Aug 1984 23 Jun 1995 N-II (N13F) Tanegashima
GMS-4 [ja; pt] (Himawari 4) 6 Sep 1989 24 Feb 2000 H-I (H20F) Tanegashima
GMS-5 [ja; pt] (Himawari 5) 18 Mar 1995 21 Jul 2005 H-II (F3) Tanegashima
MTSAT-1 (Mirai 1) 15 Nov 1999 Launch failure H-II (F8) Tanegashima
GOES-9 (Pacific GOES) [2] 23 May 1995 14 Jun 2007 Atlas I (AC-77) Cape Canaveral
MTSAT-1R (Himawari 6) 26 Feb 2005 4 Dec 2015 H-IIA (F7) Tanegashima
MTSAT-2 (Himawari 7) 18 Feb 2006 10 Mar 2017 H-IIA (F9) Tanegashima
Himawari 8 7 Oct 2014 Stand-by H-IIA (F25) Tanegashima
Himawari 9 2 Nov 2016 Operational H-IIA (F31) Tanegashima
Himawari 10 2028 2045[3] H3 TBD

History

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In March 2023, Mitsubishi Electric announced that they had won the contract to build Himawari 10.[4] Himawari 10 is scheduled to be launched in 2028.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Exchange of Letters constituting an Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of Japan concerning Co-operation on the Project for the Geostationary Meteorological Satellite-4 System ATS 28 of 1990” Archived 16 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Australasian Legal Information Institute, Australian Treaties Library. Retrieved on 15 April 2017.
  2. ^ Usually excluded from Himawari series
  3. ^ "WMO OSCAR | Details for Satellite Programme: Himawari 4th Generation". space.oscar.wmo.int. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  4. ^ "Mitsubishi Electric Wins New Japanese Meteorological Satellite Contract". www.businesswire.com. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  5. ^ Bessho, K. (26 April 2023). Status of Himawari-8/9 and their follow-on satellite Himawari-10. CGMS-51. JMA. p. 5. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
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