Asteroid Explorer "Hayabusa2"
Flight Status and Orbit Calculation Result
December 3, 2014 (JST)
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) received signals from the Asteroid Explorer "Hayabusa2" at 3:44 p.m. on December 3, 2014 (Japan Standard Time) at the NASA Goldstone Deep Space Communication Complex (in California) and confirmed that its initial sequence of operations including the solar array paddle deployment and sun acquisition control have been performed normally. The Hayabusa2 was launched on the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 26 from the Tanegashima Space Center at 1:22:04 p.m.on the same day (JST.) The explorer is also confirmed to be inserted into the scheduled orbit by the H-IIA F26.
The explorer is now in a stable condition.
(Next press release)
We will inform you of the completion of the Hayabusa2 critical operation phase (*) in the next press release.
*1 Critical operation phase
The critical operation phase is a period from the separation from the launch vehicle till the establishment of the stable operation in space including the deployment of the solar array paddles and verification of the attitude control system and tracking and control facility functions.
* For more information about the Hayabusa2, please refer to the following JAXA website "Hayabusa2 special site."