Reimei ('Dawn') is the in-flight name for a small Japanese satellite known during development as INDEX (INnovative-technology Demonstration Experiment), developed in-house at JAXA both to serve as a demonstration of small-satellite technologies (particularly high-performance and high-accuracy attitude control) and to perform simultaneous optical and charged-particle observation of the aurora. A notable feature is the 25 μm-thick polyimide mirrors used for concentrating sunlight onto the solar arrays.
| Operator | JAXA |
|---|---|
| COSPAR ID | 2005-031B |
| SATCAT no. | 28810 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Launch mass | 72 kg (159 lb) |
| Dimensions | 72 cm × 62 cm × 62 cm |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 24 August 2005 |
| Rocket | Dnepr |
| Launch site | Baikonur Pad 109/95[1] |
| Contractor | ISC Kosmotras |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Semi-major axis | 6,975.4 km (4,334.3 mi) |
| Eccentricity | 0.0027340 |
| Periapsis altitude | 578.19003 |
| Apoapsis altitude | 616.33149 |
| Inclination | 98.1777 |
| Period | 96.63 min |
| Mean motion | 14.9020938 rev/day |
| Epoch | May 3, 2018, 22:37:00.128 UTC[2] |
| Instruments | |
| 25 μm-thick polyimide mirrors | |
It is 72 cm × 62 cm × 62 cm and weighs 72 kilograms. The construction budget was $4 million. The satellite was launched into a near-Sun-synchronous 630 km orbit on 24 August 2005 as a piggyback on the OICETS launch on the Dnepr launch vehicle.[3][4]
References
edit- ^ Wade, Mark. "Reimei". www.astronautix.com. Archived from the original on December 27, 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- ^ "INDEX - Orbit". May 3, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
- ^ Saito, Hirobumi (2006), "Overview and initial in-orbit status of "INDEX" satellite", Proceedings of the 20th Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites, SSC06-IV-1
- ^ "Innovative-technology Demonstration Experiment REIMEI" (PDF). JAXA. Retrieved 2015-12-19.
