October 17, 2012 Updated

Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2: System thermal vacuum test

The thermal vacuum test for the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 "ALOS-2" started on Oct. 16th at the Tsukuba Space Center. It is scheduled to be completed in late November.
The thermal vacuum test is to verify if electric functions and thermal controls of the satellite properly work in the 13mφ space chamber that simulates the space environment.
The photo here was taken on Oct. 3^rd. It shows the satellite's main body preparing for the test.

April 18, 2012 Updated

PALSAR-2 impulse response evaluation under vacuum environment

From March 5 to 9, JAXA conducted impulse response evaluation of the Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR-2) aboard Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 (ALOS-2) under vacuum environment in 6-Meter-Diameter Radiometer Space Chamber Building at the Tsukuba Space Center.
The impulse response evaluation under vacuum environment is to verify the PALSAR-2's performance and functions in a vacuum environment that is close to that in space.
PALSAR-2 is additionally installed with a new observation function called“Spotlight mode.” Thus its resolution target is one to three meters, which is far better than its predecessor ALOS/PALSAR, whose resolution is about 10 meters. Also, the PALSAR-2 can enlarge its observation area by about three times so that it can quickly provide data with higher accuracy and increase observation frequency.