L3Harris to Construct Sensors for Japanese Weather Satellites

L3Harris Technologies has been awarded a contract to provide Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) with advanced Geostationary (GEO) imaging and sounding instruments to monitor and predict severe weather events. The contract, which was announced on April 13, is with Mitsubishi Electric Group. L3Harris will build and deliver an advanced imager and sounder for JMA’s Himawari-10 satellite. The imager will use a similar technical platform as L3Harris’ Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) on NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R). It will also carry enhancements beyond its predecessor, Himawari-8/-9, including tailored Japanese spectral bands. Ed Zoiss, president of Space and Airborne Systems for L3Harris, said the company’s “next-generation capabilities will enable forecasters to make better real-time decisions to counteract the threat of severe weather and disaster events in Japan and throughout much of Asia-Pacific.”