SPRINT-A (EXCEED) --> Hisaki

Spacecraft nº:

Japanese spacecraft nº: 185

Launch data: Designation  39253 / 13049A Launch date  14 Sept 2013 - 05:00 UT Launch site  Uchinoura Space Center (USC) Launch vehicle  Epsilon CLPS (1e flight) Mission  Planets observation, Astronomy Elliptical Earth orbit: Perigee / Apogee  952 x 1155 km Eccentricity   Inclination  29.7° Period  106.3 min

Spacecraft data:

Description:

• Japan's Epsilon rocket will launch the SPRINT-A satellite with a small space telescope to observe Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter, focusing on the interaction between the planets' atmospheres and the solar wind. This launch will be the first flight of Japan's small Epsilon launch vehicle.
• Extreme ultraviolet spectroscope for Exospheric Dynamics (HISAKI, SPRINT-A) is the world's first space telescope for remote observation of the planets such as Venus, Mars, and Jupiter from the orbit around the earth.
• Venus and Earth may be called twins planet, and it recently becomes clear that three terrestrial planets in the solar system including Mars have very similar environment in the beginning era of the solar system. However, in three planets, which could be called the brothers, during the finite period within one billion years after the birth of the solar system each environment evolution of growth and change results into the different and specific current state. At Venus, it became the very dry atmosphere consisting mainly of carbon dioxide as a result that water ran away to outer space, and it is now the scorching world where the temperature of its surface reaches 400 degrees Celsius by the strong greenhouse effect. On the other hand, in Mars, most of atmospheric carbon component producing the greenhouse effect run away to outer space, and it is now in the chilly world.
• In the Extreme ultraviolet spectroscope for Exospheric Dynamics mission, the mechanism that the atmosphere of these terrestrial planets runs away to outer space is one of scientific objectives. Because in the beginning era of the solar system the sun had more intensely activity than the present, and because the very strong solar wind arrived at the planet, it is in particular thought that a large quantity of atmosphere ran away. The study on interaction of the strong solar wind on the atmosphere of the planet leads to acquiring knowledge of history in the early stage of the solar system.
• Furthermore, HISAKI will also perform an observation of extreme ultraviolet light from the satellite Io of the Jupiter, and examines how to transfer energy in the plasma environment of the Jupiter from an observation of a sulfur ion flowing out from Io.

Mission details:

• The launch of the first Epsilon Launch Vehicle (Epsilon-1) with the Spectroscopic Planet Observatory for Recognition of Interaction of Atmosphere (SPRINT-A) onboard from the Uchinoura Space Center, was cancelled on August 27, 2013 because an automatic stop alarm was issued as an attitude abnormality was detected approximately 19 seconds prior to the liftoff time during the automatic countdown sequence. The launch had been originally scheduled for 1:45:00 p.m. today (Japan Standard Time).
• Japan's new solid fuel launch vehicle, Epsilon, made a successful first flight from Uchinoura on Sep 14, 2013. It placed the 340 kg SPRINT-A satellite in orbit.
  SPRINT-A is the Spectroscopic Planet Observatory for Recognition of Interaction of Atmosphere, carrying a 0.20-meter silicon carbide mirror with an extreme ultraviolet spectrometer observing in the 550 to 1450 Angstrom range, which will be used to study the exospheres of planets in our solar system. After the launch, SPRINT-A was renamed "Hisaki" after Cape Hisaki.
• The Epsilon rocket uses the H2A's solid rocket booster SRB-A3 as its first stage. Second stage uses the M-34c solid motor, which is an improved version of the third stage of the old ISAS M-V rocket. Third stage is the KM-V2b, derived from the KM-V2 kick motor used as the insertion stage for the Hayabusa probe in 2003. Final stage is a new liquid propulsion Post-Boost System (PBS; in Japanese, Kogata ekitai suishin-kei, small liquid propulsion system) with 8 50N thrusters.
• Hisaki is in a 952 x 1155 km x 29.7 deg orbit; the PBS fourth stage is in an 847 x 1115 km x 29.7 deg orbit; and the third stage is in an 808 x 973 km x 29.8 deg orbit.

External links:

• ISAS/JAXA: Satellite Information
• JAXA: Satellite Information
• JAXA: Rocket Information
• Satellite tracking: Real time satellite tracking