The Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer (ILAS) was a satellite-based solar occultation sensor that was developed by the Environment Agency of Japan (EA) to monitor and study the stratospheric ozone layer. This paper describes the characteristics of the ILAS instrument and its performance in orbit. ILAS measured the vertical distribution of ozone, nitric acid, nitrogen dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, water vapor, temperature, pressure, and aerosol extinction coefficients at 1.6-km vertical resolution. ILAS was equipped with two spectrometers: an infrared (IR) spectrometer with an uncooled pyroelectric linear array detector to sense between 6.21 and 11.76 ¿m and a visible spectrometer to monitor 753--784 nm. In addition, a Sun-edge sensor (SES) assigned the tangent height of the instantaneous field-of-view (IFOV). A two-axis gimbals control system on ILAS used two Sun position sensors to track the center of brightness of the Sun during occultation measurements. Before launch onboard the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS), the performance of ILAS was checked on the ground using several methods, including gas-cell measurements, time response measurements, Sun-tracking tests, and hollow-cathode lamp measurements. After the launch of ADEOS on 17 August 1996, ILAS functioned successfully for 8 months of routine operation, from 30 October 1996 to 30 June 1997, collecting more than 6700 solar occultation measurements, after which time the satellite failed due to a failure in a solar paddle. The time delay response of the IR channel was characterized using stepwise IR input. Instrument functions of the ILAS IR and visible spectrometers were determined by combining theoretical optical calculations, experimental measurements using a gas-cell before launch, and in-orbit data. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of each element in the IR channel was estimated to be 400--1200. In the visible channel, it was 1600--1800 for a 100% direct Sun signal. At sunset occultation, ILAS was able to track the Sun below a tangent height of 10 km in some cases. The method of determining the solar edges from the SES data worked correctly, giving adequate tangent height information for observations. Output signal levels of the SES, visible channel, and IR channel showed slight degradation during the period that ILAS was operational, which is attributed to space-borne contaminants. However, changes in absolute signal levels do not affect data retrieval, because the solar occultation technique was self-calibrating. Overall, ILAS worked as designed during its operation in orbit and gathered valuable data for ozone layer studies.