Himawari (satellite)

"Geostationary Meteorological Satellite" redirects here. For meteorological satellites in geostationary orbit, see weather satellite.
GMS, the first generation of Himawari

The Himawari (ひまわり, “sunflower”) 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.

Since the launch of GMS-1 (Himawari 1) in 1977, there have been three generations, including GMS, MTSAT, and Himawari 8/9. Himawari 8 and MTSAT-2 satellites are currently available for operational use.

Status of Himawari satellites

Name Launch date
(UTC)		 Retirement Rocket Launch site
GMS-1 (Himawari 1) 14 July 1977 June 1989 Delta 2914 Cape Canaveral
GMS-2 (Himawari 2) 11 August 1981 November 1987 N-II (N8F) Tanegashima
GMS-3 (Himawari 3) 3 August 1984 June 1995 N-II (N13F) Tanegashima
GMS-4 (Himawari 4) 6 September 1989 February 2000 H-I (H20F) Tanegashima
GMS-5 (Himawari 5) 18 March 1995 July 2005 H-II (F3) Tanegashima
MTSAT-1 (Mirai 1) 15 November 1999 Launch failure H-II (F8) Tanegashima
MTSAT-1R (Himawari 6) 26 February 2005 On standby H-IIA (F7) Tanegashima
MTSAT-2 (Himawari 7) 18 February 2006 Operational H-IIA (F9) Tanegashima
Himawari 8 7 October 2014 Operational H-IIA (F25) Tanegashima
Himawari 9 2016 (Planned) TBD TBD

See also

References

    External links

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