Japanese Earth Resources Satellite 1 (JERS-1) was a
satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...
launched in 1992 by the
National Space Development Agency of Japan
The , or NASDA, was a Japanese national space agency established on October 1, 1969 under the National Space Development Agency Law only for peaceful purposes. Based on the Space Development Program enacted by the Minister of Education, Culture, ...
(NASDA, now part of
JAXA
The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into o ...
). It carried three instruments:
*An
L-band
The L band is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) designation for the range of frequencies in the radio spectrum from 1 to 2 gigahertz (GHz). This is at the top end of the ultra high frequency (UHF) band, at the lowe ...
(HH polarization) synthetic aperture
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, Marine radar, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor v ...
(SAR);
*A
nadir
The nadir (, ; ar, نظير, naẓīr, counterpart) is the direction pointing directly ''below'' a particular location; that is, it is one of two vertical directions at a specified location, orthogonal to a horizontal flat surface.
The direc ...
-pointing
optical camera (OPS);
*A side-looking optical camera (AVNIR).
The satellite operated until 1998 and re-entered the Earth's atmosphere in 2001.
References
ESA third party missions overview
Earth observation satellites of Japan
Spacecraft launched in 1992
Spacecraft which reentered in 2001
Space synthetic aperture radar
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