Editing JAXA (section)

== Earth observation program ==
Japan's first Earth observation satellites were MOS-1a and MOS-1b launched in 1987 and 1990. During the 1990s, and the new millennium this NASDA program came under heavy fire, because both Adeos (Midori) and [[Adeos 2]] (Midori 2) satellites failed after just ten months in orbit.

'''Active Missions:''' [[GOSAT]], [[GCOM-W]], [[ALOS-2]], [[GCOM-C]], [[Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite-2|GOSAT-2]]<br />
'''Retired/Failed (R/F):''' [[ALOS]] (R), [[ALOS-3]] (F)

=== ALOS ===
[[File:MTSAT-1.jpg|right|thumb|MTSAT-1]]
In January 2006, JAXA successfully launched the [[Advanced Land Observation Satellite]] (ALOS/Daichi). Communication between ALOS and the ground station in Japan will be done through the Kodama Data Relay Satellite, which was launched during 2002. This project is under intense pressure due to the shorter than expected lifetime of the ADEOS II (Midori) Earth Observation Mission. For missions following Daichi, JAXA opted to separate it into a radar satellite ([[ALOS-2]]) and an optical satellite, ([[ALOS-3]]). ALOS 2 SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite was launched in May 2014. The ALOS-3 satellite was aboard a [[H3 (rocket)|H3 rocket]] in March 2023, but the satellite was lost in a launch failure when the second stage failed to ignite. [[ALOS-4]], 2's SAR successor, was launched successfully in July 2024. A true successor to ALOS-3 is planned to launch around 2027.

=== Rainfall observation ===
Since Japan is an island nation and gets struck by typhoons every year, research about the dynamics of the atmosphere is a very important issue. For this reason Japan launched in 1997 the [[TRMM]] (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) satellite in cooperation with NASA, to observe the tropical rainfall seasons. For further research NASDA had launched the ADEOS and ADEOS II missions in 1996 and 2003. However, due to various reasons,{{specify|reason=what would those reasons be?|date=November 2017}} both satellites had a much shorter than expected life term.

On 28 February 2014, a H-2A rocket launched the [[GPM Core Observatory]], a satellite jointly developed by JAXA and NASA. The GPM mission is the successor to the TRMM mission, which by the time of the GPM launch had been noted as highly successful. JAXA provided the [[Global Precipitation Measurement]]/Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (GPM/DPR) Instrument for this mission. Global Precipitation Measurement itself is a satellite constellation, whilst the GPM Core Observatory provides a new calibration standard for other satellites in the constellation. Other countries/agencies like France, India, ESA, etc. provides the sub-satellites. The aim of GPM is to measure global rainfall with unprecedented detail.

=== Monitoring of carbon dioxide ===
At the end of the 2008 fiscal year, JAXA launched the satellite [[GOSAT]] (Greenhouse Gas Observing SATellite) to help scientists determine and monitor the density distribution of [[carbon dioxide]] in the [[Earth's atmosphere|atmosphere]]. The satellite is being jointly developed by JAXA and Japan's [[Ministry of the Environment (Japan)|Ministry of the Environment]]. JAXA is building the satellite while the Ministry is in charge of the data that will be collected. Since the number of ground-based carbon dioxide observatories cannot monitor enough of the world's atmosphere and are distributed unevenly throughout the globe, the GOSAT may be able to gather more accurate data and fill in the gaps on the globe where there are no observatories on the ground. Sensors for [[methane]] and other [[greenhouse gas]]ses are also being considered for the satellite, although the plans are not yet finalized. The satellite weighs approximately 1650&nbsp;kg and is expected to have a life span of five years.

The successor satellite [[Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite-2|GOSAT 2]] was launched in October 2018.

=== GCOM series ===
The next funded Earth-observation mission after GOSAT is the GCOM ([[Global Change Observation Mission]]) Earth-observation program as a successor to ADEOS II (Midori) and the [[Aqua (satellite)|Aqua]] mission. To reduce the risk and for a longer observation time the mission will be split into smaller satellites. Altogether GCOM will be a series of six satellites. The first satellite, [[GCOM-W]] (Shizuku), was launched on 17 May 2012 with the H-IIA. The second satellite, [[GCOM-C]] (Shikisai), was launched in 2017.