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Nov. 29, 2020
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’s H-IIA F43 launch vehicle launched the JDRS-1 satellite
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’s H-IIA F43 launch vehicle launched the JDRS-1 satellite from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex, at JAXA’s Tanegashima Space Center, Japan, on 29 November 2020, at 07:25 UTC (16:25 Japan Standard Time - JST).
JDRS-1 (データ中継衛星1号機, Data Relay Satellite No. 1) is an optical data relay satellite designed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), part of the Japanese Data Relay System (JDRS) and the first of the “Optical Intersatellite Communication System” (LUCAS).
JDRS-1 launch
The JDRS-1 will relay optical and radar data from Japan’s Information Gathering Satellites (IGS) and other data from science satellites to Earth. Few details of the satellite have been revealed due to the largely military nature of its mission.
The new satellite carries Laser Utilizing Communication System (LUCAS) developed by JAXA. LUCAS uses infrared light to facilitate inter-satellite links at rates of up to 1.8 gigabits per second.
JDRS-1 (データ中継衛星1号機, Data Relay Satellite No. 1)
The JDRS satellite was jointly developed by JAXA and the Government of Japan. The Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center owns and operates the satellite, with JAXA responsible for the optical data relay function.
The satellite will operate in a geostationary orbit at 35,400 kilometers above the Earth, relaying data between Japanese satellites passing below and ground stations. This allows speedier passing of data, facilitating its transfer when a satellite would otherwise not have a clear view of the ground station.
Japan’s follow-on Advanced Land Observation Satellites for Earth science and observation, ALOS-3 and ALOS-4, will be capable of utilizing the full relay capabilities of JDRS-1. ALOS-3 could launch as soon as 2021.
JAXA: https://global.jaxa.jp/
Images, Video, Text, Credits: JAXA/(c)nvs-live.com/SciNews/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
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