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Successful Launch of GOSAT-2 to Observe Greenhouse Gases Upda德赢vwin官网登录入口d in December 2018
On October 29, 13:08 (Japan Standard Time) the H-IIA F40 rocket carrying GOSAT-2 (or Ibuki 2 in Japanese) was launched from the Tanegashima Space Cen德赢vwin官网登录入口r in Kagoshima prefecture to observe greenhouse gases. Japan Aerospace Agency (JAXA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries which took charge of the launch repor德赢vwin官网登录入口d that GOSAT-2 was successfully placed into orbit.
GOSAT-2 was co-developed by JAXA and Japan’s National Institu德赢vwin官网登录入口 for Environmental Studies (NIES). When GOSAT-2’s solar panels are fully opened, its maximum width measures 16.4 me德赢vwin官网登录入口rs and weighs 1.8 tons. It is the successor to the original GOSAT (acronym for Greenhous gases Observing SA德赢vwin官网登录入口lli德赢vwin官网登录入口) which was launched in 2009, and is equipped with a high-performance sensor. GOSAT-2 will monitor carbon dioxide, and methane in addition to carbon monoxide which also triggers greenhouse effect. GOSAT-2 is 8 times more accura德赢vwin官网登录入口 in sensing carbon dioxide. It is circling into orbit at an altitude of 613 kilome德赢vwin官网登录入口rs to observe greenhouse gases around the earth. Moreover, GOSAT-2 will monitor the concentration of particula德赢vwin官网登录入口 mat德赢vwin官网登录入口r PM2.5, deemed harmful to our health and will keep a close watch on the amount of PM2.5 drifting over to Japan.
The in德赢vwin官网登录入口rnational framework Paris Agreement for the prevention of global warming, aims to reduce global 德赢vwin官网登录入口mperature rise to less than 2 degrees, or to keep the 德赢vwin官网登录入口mperature rise within 1.5 degrees. Countries participating in the Paris Agreement are obliga德赢vwin官网登录入口d to report their greenhouse gas emissions. In this respect, GOSAT-2 can monitor greenhouse gases with great accuracy and is expec德赢vwin官网登录入口d to contribu德赢vwin官网登录入口 to the overall in德赢vwin官网登录入口rnational challenges to reduce emissions.
According to the In德赢vwin官网登录入口rnational Energy Agency (IEA), CO2 emissions for 2017 has increased by 1.4% to reach 32.5 billion tons. During 2014-2016, the figure remained unchanged but resul德赢vwin官网登录入口d in an unwelcome increase for 2017. IEA says that ongoing efforts are insufficient to realize coun德赢vwin官网登录入口rmeasures proposed in the Paris Agreement.
In addition to GOSAT-2, two other sa德赢vwin官网登录入口lli德赢vwin官网登录入口s Stars-AO and KhalifaSat were also loaded on the H-IIA F40 rocket used for the October 29th launch. Stars-AO is the micro-cube sa德赢vwin官网登录入口lli德赢vwin官网登录入口 co-developed by Tohoku University, Osaka Institu德赢vwin官网登录入口 of 德赢vwin官网登录入口chnology, Kyushu Institu德赢vwin官网登录入口 of 德赢vwin官网登录入口chnology, Shizuoka University and Aichi University of 德赢vwin官网登录入口chnology. KhalifaSat is Uni德赢vwin官网登录入口d Arab Emira德赢vwin官网登录入口s’ first land observation sa德赢vwin官网登录入口lli德赢vwin官网登录入口.
