Advanced Land Observation Satellite

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ALOS
Organization JAXA's Earth Observation Research and Application Center
Mission Type Earth observation
Satellite of Earth
Launch January 24, 2006 on a H-IIA rocket
Launch site Tanegashima Space Center
Mission duration 3-5 years
Launch Mass 4000 kg
Webpage alos.jaxa.jp/index-e.html
Orbital elements
Apogee 697 km
Eccentricity
Inclination 98.2 degrees
Orbital Period 98.74 minutes
Right ascension of the ascending node
Argument of perigee
Instruments
PRISM Panchromatic Remote-sensing Instruments for Stereo Mapping, to measure precise land elevation
AVNIR-2 Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2, which observes what covers land surfaces. 10-meter resolution at nadir.
PALSAR Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar, which enables day-and-night and all-weather land observation

Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS), also called Daichi, is a 4-ton Japanese satellite. It was launched from Tanegashima island, Japan on January 24, 2006 by a H-IIA rocket. The launch had been delayed three times by weather and sensor problems. This was the first Japanese launch since July 2005.

The satellite contains three sensors which will be used to map terrain in Asia and the Pacific.

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