Himawari (satellite)
"Geostationary Meteorological Satellite" redirects here. For meteorological satellites in geostationary orbit, see
weather satellite.
![](../I/m/GMS_Himawari.jpg)
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 of meteorological agencies in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand use the satellites for their own weather monitoring and forecasting operations.
Since the launch of GMS-1 (Himawari 1) in 1977, there have been three generations, including GMS, MTSAT, and Himawari 8/9. The two MTSAT satellites are currently available for operational use, yet they will be replaced by Himawari 8 in 2015.
Status of Himawari satellites
Name |
Launch date (UTC) |
Retirement |
Rocket |
Launch site |
GMS-1 (Himawari 1) |
14 July 1977 |
June 1989 |
Delta 2914 |
Cape Canaveral |
GMS-2 (Himawari 2) |
11 August 1981 |
November 1987 |
N-II (N8F) |
Tanegashima |
GMS-3 (Himawari 3) |
3 August 1984 |
June 1995 |
N-II (N13F) |
Tanegashima |
GMS-4 (Himawari 4) |
6 September 1989 |
February 2000 |
H-I (H20F) |
Tanegashima |
GMS-5 (Himawari 5) |
18 March 1995 |
July 2005 |
H-II (F3) |
Tanegashima |
MTSAT-1 (Mirai 1) |
15 November 1999 |
Launch failure |
H-II (F8) |
Tanegashima |
MTSAT-1R (Himawari 6) |
26 February 2005 |
On standby |
H-IIA (F7) |
Tanegashima |
MTSAT-2 (Himawari 7) |
18 February 2006 |
Operational |
H-IIA (F9) |
Tanegashima |
Himawari 8 |
7 October 2014 |
In-orbit |
H-IIA (F25) |
Tanegashima |
Himawari 9 |
2016 (Planned) |
|
TBD |
TBD |
See also
References
External links
Japanese space program |
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| Organizations | |
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| Earth observation | Completed | |
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| In operation | |
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| Planned | |
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| Communications, broadcasting and positioning | Completed |
- Sakura (1
- 2a
- 2b
- 3a
- 3b)
- Yuri
- BS
- Kakehashi
- N-STAR
- Kirari
- MBSat
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| In operation | |
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| Planned | |
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| Engineering tests | Completed | |
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| In operation | |
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| Planned |
- PETSAT
- SERVIS-3
- SLATS
- DESTINY
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| Cancelled | |
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| Private miniaturized satellites | Completed | |
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| In operation |
- Fuji-3
- CUTE
- XI
- SEEDS
- Raijin
- Kiseki
- Hitomi
- Horyu
- PROITERES
- RAIKO
- FITSAT-1
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| Planned |
- WNI satellite
- SPROUT
- TSUBAME
- QSAT-EOS
- SOMESAT
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| Astronomical observation | Completed | |
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| In operation | |
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| Planned | |
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| Cancelled | |
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| Lunar and planetary exploration | Completed | |
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| In operation | |
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| Failed | |
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| Planned | |
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| Cancelled | |
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| Reconnaissance | Completed | |
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| In operation | |
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| Planned | |
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| Human spaceflight | Completed | |
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| In operation | |
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| Planned | |
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| Cancelled | |
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- Italics indicates projects in development.
- Superscripts indicate joint development with1NASA, 2ESA, 3ASI, 4CSA, 5RKA, 6AEB and 7INPE.
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| Concepts | |
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| Current projects | | |
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| Geostationary meteorological satellites | |
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| Other satellites | |
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| Former projects | |
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