Current Status of IBUKI-2
October 29, 2018 (JST)
National Research and Development Agency
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
At 13:08:00 p.m. (Japan Standard Time, JST), October 29, 2018, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched H-IIA No. 40 encapsulating IBUKI-2*1.
The reception of telemetry data at the JAXA Mingenew Station, Australia was made at 13:26 p.m. (JST), confirming IBUKI-2’s solar array deployment above Australia. Thereafter, at 13:47p.m. (JST), telemetry transmitted to the Troll Satellite Station, Antarctica showed that the satellite’s Sun acquisition control proceeded properly.
Images of IBUKI-2’s extended solar array wings will be available on the special website designated for JAXA’s earth observation satellites.
Special JAXA website - Earth observations satellites:
https://fanfun.jaxa.jp/eos/en/topics/topics_20181029_gosat2.html
Next Press Releases
The next press release on Daichi-2 updates will be issued approximately at 7:00 a.m. (JST), October 30, informing the completion of the critical operations phase*2.
| *1: | IBUKI-2 is a satellite co-developed by three organizations: Japanese Ministry of Environment, National Institute of Environmental Studies, Japan and JAXA. |
|---|---|
| *2: | Critical operations phase: the phase that follows satellite’s separation from a launch vehicle. In this phase, solar arrays are deployed and the onboard instruments are turned on for the satellite’s regular operations. The critical operations phase concludes when the control mode begins for the satellite’s nominal operation. |