Editing JAXA (section)

=== 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.