Advanced Earth-Observing Satellite

The Advanced Earth-Observing Satellite (ADEOS) is heavy for a satellite, with a mass of 3,500 kg/7,700 lb. It was launched from Tanegashima Space Centre into an orbit of 830 km/515 mi altitude in 1996.

Japanese remote-sensing satellite launched on 17 August 1996. It gathered data on climate change, the environment, and land and ocean processes. On 30 June 1997, ADEOS suffered damage to its solar array that made it go out of control and led to its subsequent failure.

There were eight instruments on board ADEOS, including the ocean colour and temperature scanner (OCTS), the interferometric monitor for greenhouse gases (IMGG), and the total ozone mapping spectrometer (TOMS). A second satellite, ADEOS-II, (Midori-II), was launched on 14 December 2002. Its two main instruments were the advanced microwave scanning radiometer (AMSR), to observe the Earth's water cycle, and the global imager (GLI), for precise observations of the land, oceans, and clouds. Because of a malfunction, the satellite's operation was ended in October 2003.