The geostationary satellites, operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), support weather forecasting, tropical cyclone tracking, and meteorology research. Most meteorological agencies in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand use the satellites for their own weather monitoring and forecasting operations.
Originally also named Geostationary Meteorological Satellites (GMS),"Exchange of Letters constituting an Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of Japan concerning Co-operation on the Project for the Geostationary Meteorological Satellite-4 System ATS 28 of 1990". . Australasian Legal Information Institute, Australian Treaties Library. Retrieved on 15 April 2017. since the launch of GMS-1 (Himawari 1) in 1977, there have been three generations, including GMS, MTSAT, and Himawari 8/9; Himawari 8/9 satellites are currently available for operational use.
Status NameLaunch date(UTC)RetirementRocketLaunch site (Himawari 1)14 Jul 197730 Jun 1989Delta 2914Cape Canaveral (Himawari 2)11 Aug 198120 Nov 1987N-II (N8F)Tanegashima (Himawari 3)3 Aug 198423 Jun 1995N-II (N13F)Tanegashima (Himawari 4)6 Sep 198924 Feb 2000H-I (H20F)Tanegashima (Himawari 5)18 Mar 199521 Jul 2005H-II (F3)TanegashimaMTSAT-1 (Mirai 1)15 Nov 1999Launch failureH-II (F8)TanegashimaGOES-9 (Pacific GOES)Usually excluded from Himawari series23 May 199514 Jun 2007Atlas I (AC-77)Cape CanaveralMTSAT-1R (Himawari 6)26 Feb 20054 Dec 2015H-IIA (F7)TanegashimaMTSAT-2 (Himawari 7)18 Feb 200610 Mar 2017H-IIA (F9)TanegashimaHimawari 87 Oct 2014Stand-byH-IIA (F25)TanegashimaHimawari 92 Nov 2016OperationalH-IIA (F31)TanegashimaHimawari 10FY 20302045H3TBD
History In March 2023, Mitsubishi Electric announced that they had won the contract to build Himawari 10. Himawari 10 was originally scheduled to be launched in the fiscal year of 2028 (April 2028-March 2029), but has been delayed to the fiscal year of 2030 (April 2030-March 2031) due to development of a satellite component being slower than expected.
See also
Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)
References
External links Satellite Imagery from the Japan Meteorological Agency Meteorological Satellite Center of JMA