19822 - AKEBONO

The purpose of this mission was to investigate the particle acceleration regions above the auroral region in order to develop a better understanding of the acceleration mechanism and of its relation to substorm phenomena. The spacecraft was spin-stabilized with a rotation rate of 7.5 rpm. The attitude was magnetically controlled with spacecraft axis pointing to the sun. All onboard operations such as command and data acquisition were controlled by an onboard computer permitting automatic operations for a full week. The satellite control and main telemetry station was at Kagoshima. Additional telemetry reception was planned at Syowa (Antarctica) and Prince Albert (Canada).

Alternate Names

EXOS-D

Facts in Brief

Launch Date: 1989-02-21
Launch Vehicle: M-3SII-1
Launch Site: Uchinoura Space Center, Japan
Mass: 294.0 kg