BackForward Satellite Programme: Advanced Land Observing Satellite 

Programme details
Programme description
  • Original name: “Daichi” = "Great Earth".
  • Series of 3 satellites for land observation.
  • Japanese programme: JAXA responsible of development and operations.
  • The platforms are actively stabilised over 3 axes.
  • The design life time is 5 years.
  • The satellites exploit sunsynchronous orbits around 10:30 or 12:00, depending on the specific payload.
  • The replacement policy is based on launching satellites in sequence, roughly 6 months before the expected end-of-life of a satellite.
  • See detailed description at https://directory.eoportal.org/missions/alos.
Data circulation
  • Primary data transmission mode: real-time through DRTS (Data Relay and Test Satellite) to the Hatoyama ground station.
  • Real-time transmission of selected data in X-band to Hatoyama.
  • The JAXA Earth Observation Center (EOC) coordinates processing, analysis and distribution through a network of several ALOS Data Nodes (ADN), ideally one in each continent.
Agencies JAXA
Programme lifetime 2006 - 2029
Associated satellites and instruments

Note: red tag => no longer operational , green tag => operational , blue tag => planned