Japan's Earth-observing satellite Daichi is dead in orbit, three weeks after a mysterious anomaly crippled the spacecraft, the nation's space agency announced today (May 12). Read more
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) had been trying to communicate with the Advanced Land Observing Satellite "DAICHI" (ALOS) for about three weeks after it developed a power generation anomaly; however, JAXA decided to complete its operations by sending a command to halt DAICHI's onboard transmitter and batteries at 10:50 a.m. on May 12 (Japan Standard Time) as they found it was impossible to recover communication with the satellite.
Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS), also called Daichi, is a 4-ton Japanese satellite. It was launched from Tanegashima island, Japan on 24 January 2006 by a H-IIA rocket. Read more
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has been operating the Advanced Land Observing Satellite "DAICHI" (ALOS) which has exceeded its design life of three years, and target life of five years. However, at around 7:30 a.m. on April 22, JAXA discovered that the satellite shifted its operation mode to the low load mode (power saving mode), and all the onboard observation devices were turned off due to power generation precipitation. The anomaly was detected through relayed data via the Data Relay Test Satellite "KODAMA." Since then, the power generation has been rapidly deteriorating, and JAXA currently cannot confirm power generation. The DAICHI was launched on January 24, 2006.
JAXA is investigating the cause of this phenomenon while taking necessary measures.
In a unique collaboration between national space agencies, the United States and Japan began combining elements of their satellite resources on Monday to increase a critical type of Earth observation data. The partnership will more than double the quantity of this data that is used to explore earthquake hazards, forest declines, and changing water resources in the Americas. This new partnership between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, known as JAXA, uses NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System to download observations over North and South America taken by instruments on JAXA's Advanced Land Observing Satellite, or ALOS. By combining NASA and JAXA data-relay satellite resources, coverage of North and South America nearly doubles. Observations will be made about twice as often. Read more
An advanced Japanese surveying satellite launched two years ago is proving to be a disappointment, producing images too blurry for map-makers, officials said Wednesday. The USD 457.8 million "Daichi" satellite was sent into space to create detailed maps of remote parts of Japan, but the images have not been of sufficient quality, the government's Geographical Survey Institute said.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) completed the initial functional verification phase and initial calibration and verification phase of the Advanced Land Observing Satellite "Daichi" (ALOS) and will move on to the operations phase tomorrow. The "Daichi" was launched on January 24, 2006, (Japan Standard Time, JST) from the Tanegashima Space Centre. Along with the start of the mission operation, observation data (called "ALOS data") from the "Daichi" will become available to the public. In Japan, you can receive data from two Japanese organisations, the Remote Sensing Technology Centre of Japan (RESTEC) and the Earth Remote Sensing Data Analysis Center (ERSDAC) *1, and some overseas local organisations designated by ALOS node agencies*2 as they are ready to provide data. Some fees are required to receive the data.
JAXA also started providing data to the Sentinel Asia, which JAXA and other related organisations are currently establishing as a disaster management support system in the Asia-Pacific region.
Flooding in Northern Thailand was observed by the Advanced Land Observing Satellite "Daichi" (ALOS) on May 25, 2006 (JST)
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) received a request from the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) of the Kingdom of Thailand to observe flooding. Accordingly, the satellite observed the flooded area using the Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) to provide observation data to the GISTDA.
ESA has for the first time acquired and processed images sent by ALOS – Japan's four-tonne satellite dedicated to land-based Earth Observation – including views of Italy, The Netherlands and Norway.
ESA is supporting ALOS as a 'Third Party Mission', which means the agency is utilising its multi-mission ground segment of existing European facilities and expertise to acquire, process and distribute data from the satellite.
"We have received high-quality data from ALOS, and our team has worked extremely hard and done a great job acquiring and processing the images. We are very excited about the future data we will receive from ALOS and think they will be very beneficial to users" - Bianca Hoersch, ESA’s Third Party Mission Manager.
ALOS captured the image of Naples, Italy, with its Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type-2 (AVNIR-2), which is designed to chart land cover and vegetation in visible and near infrared spectral bands.