38337 - GCOM-W1

GCOM-W1 (Global Change Observation Mission-Water), a Japanese satellite, was launched from Tanegashima on 2012 May 17 at 16:39 UT by an H-2A rocket. The JAXA satellite, nicknamed SHIZUKU, which in Japanese means water drop, weighed 1.99 tons. It's the first satellite for the GCOM-W series which will study water circulation systems in the Earth's atmosphere. The GCOM-W1 will track precipitation, clouds, atmospheric water vapor, sea surface temperatures, sea ice, snow cover, and soil moisture. GCOM-W1 carries the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2), a remote sensing instrument for measuring weak microwave emission from the surface and the atmosphere of the Earth. It is expected to operate in orbit for at least 5 years.

The initial orbital parameters were period = 98.75 minutes, apogee = 700.0 km, perigee = 697.9 km, inclination = 98.2 deg on 2012 Jun 24 at 20:32:06 UTC.

Alternate Names

Global Change Observation Mission-Water 1

Facts in Brief

Launch Date: 2012-05-17
Launch Vehicle: H-2A
Launch Site: Tanegashima, Japan
Mass: 1990.0 kg