Press Release 

Heilbronn, Germany 
2nd April 2026 

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, has successfully launched its next generation earth observation satellite for greenhouse gas monitoring, GOSAT-GW (IBUKI GW), equipped with a high performance AIM IR detector.

The TANSO-3 instrument of GOSAT-GW, a grating imaging spectrometer, developed and manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation is using AIM’s short-wave AGD-detector in an open package configuration. This AGD detector is optimized for observing greenhouse gases such as CO₂ and CH₄.

The AGD detector consists of a high-performance mercury-cadmium-telluride (MCT)-sensitive detector layer and a Readout Integrated Circuit (ROIC) for signal integration.
The development of the generic AGD detector has been an initiative by AIM aiming for anthropogenic gas detection missions and has been co-founded by DLR.
Infrared detector modules developed and manufactured by AIM have successfully been launched into space, for example on board the KOMPSAT-3A satellite in 2015, the two satellites Sentinel 3A and 3B in 2016 and 2018 and EnMAP in 2022. AIM has delivered more than 63 Flight Models for different space programs, including several classified programs for security applications. Currently 9 satellites with 20 AIM-IR detectors are operating in orbit.

AIM Infrarot-Module GmbH combines all core competencies in house, such as design and production of focal plane assemblies, detector housing or long-life cryocooler technologies and cooler drive electronics, which provide flexibility to match challenging requirements and achieve economical solutions.

AIM Infrarot-Module GmbH, 
Theresienstrasse 2, 
74072 Heilbronn, Germany, 
info@aim-ir.com

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Website
https://www.mitsubishielectric.com/en/
 

JAXA IBUKI GW (GOSAT-GW) Website
https://www.satnavi.jaxa.jp/files/project/gosat-gw/en/