Judge a new generation of products

Ibuki-GW, or GOSAT-GW, launched on June 29, 2025, aboard the final H-IIA flight. Its critical operations phase ended after deployment and stability checks, as reported on July 1. NIES later records entry into nominal operations on October 9, 2025. These are separate milestones rather than interchangeable meanings of “ready.”

The spacecraft carries two distinct mission instruments. TANSO-3 supports atmospheric-gas observations; AMSR3 observes naturally emitted microwaves for water-cycle studies. Sharing a platform does not make the instruments interchangeable. The gas spectroscopy belongs in this GOSAT course, while AMSR3 also connects to the wider microwave-observation history explored through GCOM.

NIES’s January 8, 2026 report presented initial TANSO-3 focus-mode analysis over Los Angeles using September 5, 2025 observations. It reported carbon-dioxide and methane column averages and nitrogen-dioxide slant-column information. The analysis used preliminary, non-calibrated spectra and simplified processing without aerosol correction, so its values were not a final, validated emissions inventory.

In an original interpretation exercise, a highlighted urban region is evidence worth investigating, but a map color alone does not establish an exact facility-level emission rate. The relevant next questions concern calibration, screening, retrieval assumptions, transport and independent validation. A preliminary demonstration can be informative while those questions remain open.

Different milestones answer different questions

The TANSO-3 archive distinguishes Level 1B spectral radiance from Level 2 retrieved gas products. Receiving a spectrum does not mean receiving every higher-level interpretation. An October 13, 2026 maintenance notice suspended provision of new Level 1B products from October 19 and scheduled resumption around February 2027. That future date is a plan, not a completed resumption.

For an original data-use decision, choose a particular observation period and product, then check its version, quality and availability. A nominally operating spacecraft can still have an instrument maintenance period or a delivery interruption. This course’s dated notice is a historical checkpoint; consult the linked archive for subsequent changes rather than assuming uninterrupted access.