10 Facts About Himawari 8

Himawari 8 is a Japanese weather satellite, the 8th of the Himawari geostationary weather satellites operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Himawari 8 entered operational service on 7 July 2015 and is the successor to MTSAT-2 which was launched in 2006.

Himawari 8 was launched atop a H-IIA rocket flying from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex Pad 1 at the Tanegashima Space Center.

Himawari 9, which is identical to Himawari 8, was launched on 2 November 2016 and placed in a stand-by orbit until 2022, when it is planned to succeed Himawari 8.

Role of Himawari 8 is to provide typhoon, rainstorm, weather forecast and other related reports for Japan, East Asia, and Western Pacific region.

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The Himawari 8 satellite was able to capture the Tianjin explosions in 2015, and the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption in 2022.

Data recorded from the Japanese Himawari 8 will be made freely available for use by meteorological agencies in other countries.

DS2000 satellite bus has a lifespan of 15 years, however the expected operational lifespan of Himawari 8 is expected to be limited by its instruments which are only designed for 8 years of service.

Primary instrument aboard Himawari 8, the Advanced Himawari Imager, is a 16 channel multispectral imager to capture visible light and infrared images of the Asia-Pacific region.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology CEO Dr Rob Vertessy stated that Himawari 8 "generates about 50 times more data than the previous satellite".