Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA launches GOSAT-2 and KhalifaSat

Japan launched a satellite to monitor greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere on Monday. The GOSAT-2 spacecraft lifted off aboard an H-IIA rocket during a twelve-minute window opening at 13:08 local time (04:08 UTC).

GOSAT-2 will monitor greenhouse gases from a circular sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 613 kilometers (381 miles, 331 nautical miles) and inclination of 97.84 degrees, revisiting each point of observation every three days. Like its predecessor GOSAT-2 will observe levels of carbon dioxide, methane, ozone and water vapor in the atmosphere. However, it will also monitor carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide levels.

GOSAT-2 was joined by several smaller satellites for the journey into orbit. The largest of these is KhalifaSat, a 330 kilogram (728-pound) earth observation satellite for the United Arab Emirates. Built in partnership between the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) and South Korea’s SATREC Initiative, KhalifaSat is based on SATREC’s SI-300 platform and is expected to operate for five years.