Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite-2
The Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite-2, also known as Ibuki-2, is an Earth observation satellite dedicated to greenhouse gas monitoring. It is a successor of Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite. The GOSAT-2 was developed as a joint project of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Ministry of the Environment, and the National Institute for Environmental Studies. It was launched on 29 October 2018 from the Tanegashima Space Center aboard the H-IIA rocket.
Comparison to GOSAT
Major changes in comparison to the previous GOSAT are:- Improved measurement precision.
- FTS-2 can also monitor carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide.
- FTS-2 can select cloud-free point automatically for observation.
- While GOSAT's CAI was observing nadir view, GOSAT-2's CAI-2 observes forward and backward simultaneously.
- CAI-2 can also monitor PM2.5 and black carbon.
Successor: GOSAT-GW
GOSAT-GW, the successor of GOSAT-2 and GCOM-W "Shizuku", was launched on 28 June 2025 on the last flight of the H-IIA launch vehicle.It was under development for launch in JFY2024. Due to the delay of development, it was delayed to be launched in JFY2025.