Japan: ITT Picked to Build Advanced Imaging Systems for Japanese Weather Satellites.

Byline: datta03

ITT announced today that Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Japan's largest satellite manufacturer, has selected ITT Space Systems to build the imaging systems for two geostationary satellites being built for the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). The two geostationary satellites, named Himawari-8 and Himawari-9, will provide round-the-clock weather forecasts and severe weather alerts for the eastern Asia and Oceania.

The Himawari payloads will be based on the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) that ITT is currently building for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R-series, or GOES-R, for NOAA's next-generation geostationary constellation. This improved imager has the capability to monitor three times the amount of atmospheric conditions than current generation payloads, creating superior imagery data for severe weather analysis and forecast every 30 seconds.

"This is a key win for ITT Space Systems Division. It's our largest international contract to date; and when combined with the Advanced Baseline Imager work we're doing for NASA, firmly establishes ITT as the worldwide leader for design and development of this class of meteorological instrument," said Rob Mitrevski, vice president for Commercial and Space Science. "We're very proud of the fact that ITT meteorological payloads will help save lives and protect property around the world for many years to come."

The Himawari satellites, formally known as the Japanese Geostationary Meteorological Satellite series, are part of the World Weather Watch project within the World Meteorological Organization. Himawari-8 is expected to launch in 2014, followed by Himawari-9 in 2016.

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