The GOSAT project is a joint effort of the Japanese Ministry of the Environment, the National Institute for Environmental Studies and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The primary purpose of GOSAT, a mission within the GCOM (Global Change Observation Mission) programme of Japan, is to estimate emissions and absorptions of the greenhouse gases on a subcontinental scale.

The spacecraft bus is three-axis stabilised. The structure consists of the mission module in which the mission sensors (payload) are loaded and the bus module containing the bus components.

The mission module and the bus module - a Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) cylinder - can be separated so that the assembly is performed easily and consists of a honeycomb panel reinforced by CFRP on the surface.

GOSAT is in a geocentric Low Earth orbit with an altitude of 675 kilometres. It orbits every 98 minutes. Mission control is situated at JAXA’s Earth Observation Centre in Hatoyama with two tracking stations in Japan and another in Santiago, Chile.

• GOSAT on eoPortal*
• GOSAT on JAXA website*
• GOSAT on National Institute for Environmental Studies website*

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