Seven days after losing contact with the environmental research satellite Midori-2, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Friday it will shut down the satellite's operations.

Staff at the agency, which operates under the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry, lost contact with the satellite Saturday morning. The agency said it would be difficult to recover the satellite's functions.

The agency said earlier that there may be a malfunction in the satellite's power supply system, such as a solar battery panel, adding that the satellite will stop functioning if its power system fails.