Suzaku (satellite)

{{Short description|Satellite}}

{{Use American English|date=March 2021}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}

{{Infobox spaceflight

| name = Suzaku (ASTRO-EII)

| names_list = ASTRO-EII

| image = Astro-E2.jpg

| image_caption = A picture of a fully integrated Astro-E2 before vibration tests at ISAS/JAXA.

| image_size = 300px

| mission_type = Astronomy

| operator = JAXA{{\}}NASA

| COSPAR_ID = 2005-025A

| SATCAT = 28773

| website = {{url|http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/astro_e2}}

| mission_duration = 2 years (planned)
10 years 1 month 23 days (achieved)

| spacecraft_type = ASTRO

| spacecraft_bus = ASTRO-E

| manufacturer = Toshiba{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/mfrs/toshiba.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129191524/http://astronautix.com/mfrs/toshiba.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 November 2010|title=Encyclopedia Astronautica – Toshiba|website=astronautix.com|access-date=9 September 2015}}

| launch_mass = {{cvt|1706|kg}} {{cite journal|title=The X-Ray Observatory Suzaku|author=Kazuhisa Mitsuda|journal=Astronomical Society of Japan|volume=59|issue=SP1|pages=S1–S7|date=25 January 2007 |url=http://pasj.asj.or.jp/v59/sp1/59s101/59s101-frame.html|access-date=4 October 2010|arxiv=astro-ph/0608100|bibcode=2007PASJ...59....1T|doi=10.1093/pasj/59.1.1|s2cid=17354373}}

| dimensions = 2 metres x 5 metres

| power = 500 watts

| launch_date = 10 July 2005, 03:30:00 UTC

| launch_rocket = M-V # 6

| launch_site = Uchinoura Space Center,
Uchinoura, Kagoshima

| launch_contractor =

| disposal_type =

| deactivated = 2 September 2015

| last_contact =

| decay_date = 5 January 2025{{cite web |url=https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/en/topics/003916.html |title=Atmospheric re-entry of the X-ray Astronomy Satellite "Suzaku" (ASTRO-E II) |publisher=ISAS/JAXA |date=8 January 2025 |access-date=8 January 2025}}

| orbit_reference = Geocentric orbit

| orbit_regime = Low Earth orbit

| orbit_periapsis = {{cvt|550|km}}

| orbit_apoapsis = {{cvt|550|km}}

| orbit_inclination = 31°

| orbit_period = 96 minutes

| apsis = gee

| instruments = X-ray Spectrometer-2 (XRS-2)
X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (XIS)
Hard X-ray Detector (HXD)

| insignia =

| insignia_caption =

| insignia_size = 200px

| programme =

| previous_mission =

| next_mission =

}}

{{Infobox spaceflight

| name = ASTRO-E

| names_list =

| image = M-V with ASTRO-E veering off course.jpeg

| image_caption = The M-V launch vehicle carrying ASTRO-E veering off course after launch on 10 February 2000.

| image_size = 300px

| mission_type = Astronomy

| operator = Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) / NASA

| COSPAR_ID =

| SATCAT =

| website =

| mission_duration = Failed to orbit

| spacecraft_type = ASTRO

| spacecraft_bus = ASTRO-E

| manufacturer = Toshiba

| launch_mass = 1600 kg

| dimensions = 2 metres x 5 metres

| power = 500 watts

| launch_date = 10 February 2000, 01:30:00 UTC

| launch_rocket = M-V # 4

| launch_site = Kagoshima Space Center

| launch_contractor =

| decay_date = Failed to orbit

| orbit_reference = Geocentric orbit (planned)

| orbit_regime = Low Earth orbit

| orbit_periapsis = {{cvt|550|km}}

| orbit_apoapsis = {{cvt|550|km}}

| orbit_inclination = 31.0°

| orbit_period = 96.0 minutes

| apsis = gee

| instruments = X-ray Spectrometer (XRS)
X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (XIS)
Hard X-ray Detector (HXD)
X-ray Telescope (XRT)

| insignia =

| insignia_caption =

| insignia_size = 200px

| programme =

| previous_mission =

| next_mission =

}}

Suzaku (formerly ASTRO-EII) was an X-ray astronomy satellite developed jointly by the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science at JAXA and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to probe high-energy X-ray sources, such as supernova explosions, black holes and galactic clusters. It was launched on 10 July 2005 aboard the M-V launch vehicle on the M-V-6 mission. After its successful launch, the satellite was renamed Suzaku after the mythical Vermilion bird of the South.[http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/j/snews/2005/0710_suzaku.shtml すざく（朱雀、Suzaku）命名の理由] 2005 JAXA

Just weeks after launch, on 29 July 2005, the first of a series of cooling system malfunctions occurred. These ultimately caused the entire reservoir of liquid helium to boil off into space by 8 August 2005. This effectively shut down the X-ray Spectrometer-2 (XRS-2), which was the spacecraft's primary instrument. The two other instruments, the X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (XIS) and the Hard X-ray Detector (HXD), were unaffected by the malfunction. As a result, another XRS was integrated into the Hitomi X-ray satellite, launched in 2016, which also was lost weeks after launch. A Hitomi successor, XRISM, launched on 7 September 2023, with an X-ray Spectrometer (Resolve) onboard as the primary instrument.

On 26 August 2015, JAXA announced that communications with Suzaku had been intermittent since 1 June 2015 and that the resumption of scientific operations would take a lot of work to accomplish, given the spacecraft's condition.{{cite web|url=http://global.jaxa.jp/press/2015/08/20150826_suzaku.html|title=X-ray Astronomy Satellite "Suzaku" Completes Scientific Mission|publisher=National Research and Development Agency (JAXA)|date=26 August 2015|access-date=9 September 2015}} Mission operators decided to complete the mission imminently, as Suzaku had exceeded its design lifespan by eight years at this point. The mission came to an end on 2 September 2015, when JAXA commanded the radio transmitters on Suzaku to switch themselves off.{{cite web|author=Stephen Clark|url=http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/09/04/japanese-x-ray-observatory-completes-decade-long-mission/ |title=Japanese X-ray observatory completes decade-long mission|website=Spaceflight Now|date=4 September 2015|access-date=9 September 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/suzaku/news/endofmission.html|title=Suzaku Mission Declared Complete|work=Goddard Space Flight Center|publisher=NASA|date=28 August 2015|access-date=4 September 2015}} {{PD-notice}}