Multifunctional Transport Satellites (MTSAT) were a series ofweather andaviation control satellites. They were replaced byHimawari 8 on 7 July 2015. They weregeostationary satellites owned and operated by the JapaneseMinistry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) and theJapan Meteorological Agency (JMA), and provide coverage for the hemisphere centred on 140.0° East; this includes Japan and Australia who are the principal users of thesatellite imagery that MTSAT provides. They replace theGMS-5 satellite, also known asHimawari 5 ("himawari" or "ひまわり" meaning "sunflower"). They can provide imagery in five wavelength bands —visible and fourinfrared, including thewater vapour channel. The visible light camera has a resolution of 1 km; the infrared cameras have 4 km (resolution is lower away from the equator at 140° East). The spacecraft have a planned lifespan of five years. MTSAT-1 and 1R were built bySpace Systems/Loral. MTSAT-2 was built byMitsubishi.
The launch of MTSAT-1, on a JapaneseH-II rocket, failed on 15 November 1999 and the spacecraft was destroyed.GMS-5, the satellite MTSAT-1 was intended to replace, was decommissioned on 1 April 2003 leaving Japan without weather satellite imagery.
MTSAT-1R (also known asHimawari 6) was successfully launched on aH-IIA on 26 February 2005 and became partially operational on 28 June 2005 — the aviation payload was not functional as two MTSATs are required for air traffic control. GOES-9 was decommissioned when MTSAT-1R came online in June 2005.
Itssolar sail counteracts the torque produced by sunlight pressure on the solar array. The trim tab on the solar array makes small adjustments to the torque balance.[2]
MTSAT-1R was decommissioned on 4 December 2015, due to fuel limitations.[3][4]
MTSAT-2 (also known asHimawari 7) successfully launched on 18 February 2006 and is positioned at 145.0° East. The weather functions of MTSAT-2 were put into hibernation until the end of MTSAT-1R's life (5 years from launch). The transportation and communication functions of MTSAT-2 are utilised prior to that time. It was replaced byHimawari 8 on 7 July 2015.
On 5 November 2007,Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) announced a malfunction in theattitude control of MTSAT-2. Attitude control was restored 7 November 2007. The presumed cause of the malfunction was improper functioning of an attitude control thruster. A spare thruster was used to return the spacecraft to normal operation.[5]
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
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