The GPM main satellite is the core of a global precipitation measurement (GPM) mission being carried out through international cooperation, mainly between the US and Japan. The satellite will observe rain and snowfall around the world. The satellite body developed by NASA is loaded with a dual-frequency precipitation radar (DPR), an observation device developed by Japan, and a GPM microwave imager (GMI), which is an observation device that was developed by NASA.
On February 28, 2014, the GPM/DPR, which consists of seven small satellites, was launched by piggybacking on to the H-IIA rocket-23.