The Japanese weather observation satellite Himawari-6 resumed operation Thursday afternoon after a suspension of 15 hours and 30 minutes due to system trouble, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
The problem did not impair the country's disaster preparedness, the weather agency said.
The country's weather observation returned to normal at 1 p.m. Thursday with the Himawari-6 and its backup satellite, the Himawari-7, both in operation on geostationary orbits around 36,000 kilometers above the equator, the weather agency said.
The problem caused the weather agency to miss half-hourly data observations on seven occasions, agency officials said.
The system trouble prevented the Himawari-6 from controlling its attitude, keeping its camera pointed toward Earth and sending signals at around 9:25 p.m. Wednesday, according to the officials.
Weather observations ceased for three hours and 30 minutes until the agency switched to the backup satellite at 1 a.m. Thursday.
The Himawari-6 regained attitude control in the early hours of Thursday following repair work from the ground, the officials said.
The Himawari-6 and -7 satellites are also used for air traffic control in Japan as the weather agency is part of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
Following the system trouble with the Himawari-6, the transport ministry switched air traffic control functions to the Himawari-7. The glitch with the Himawari-6 had no impact on flight services, the ministry said.
In 2006, weather observations using the Himawari-6 failed for about 20 hours due to abnormal positioning. It has developed several communication problems.
The Himawari-6 is scheduled to become a backup for the Himawari-7 in the summer of 2010.
As multifunctional transport satellites, the Himawari-6 was launched in February 2005 and placed in geostationary orbit the following month, while the Himawari-7 was launched and put in orbit in February 2006.
The Himawari-6, a Multi-Functional Transport Satellite, is known as the MTSAT-1R, while the Himawari-7 is known as the MTSAT-2. Himawari means sunflower.
