DRTS

Japanese geostationary communications satellite. One launch, 2002.09.10. DRTS (Data Relay Transponder Satellite) relayed images and data procured by the ADEOS 2 and ALOS satellites, and the KIBO module on ISS. Communication satellite built by Mitsubishi Electric (MELCO) for NASDA, Japan. Launched 2002. Used the DRTS bus bus.

Nearly cubical (2.2 m x 2.4 m x 2.2 m) 2.8-ton (with fuel), 2.1-kW (from a 17 square-meter array) spacecraft with S- and Ka-band transponders, parked over 90 deg E.

DRTS/Kodama was built by Mitsubishi for the Japanese NASDA space agency and has a mass of 1300 kg (dry), plus a further 1500 kg of propellant at launch for its propulsion system. The apogee engine was a 500N downrated version of the 1700N LAPS-derived engine used in the earlier COMETS satellite. DRTS had a 3.6-meter Ka-band dish.