Human Spaceflight
ISS OBJECT XT
Hitomi , also known as ASTRO-H and New X-ray Telescope (NeXT), was an X-ray astronomy satellite commissioned by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for studying extremely energetic processes in the Universe. The space observatory was designed to extend the research conducted by the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA) by investigating the hard X-ray band above 10 keV. The satellite was originally called New X-ray Telescope; at the time of launch it was called ASTRO-H. After it was placed in orbit and its solar panels deployed, it was renamed Hitomi. The spacecraft was launched on 17 February 2016 and contact was lost on 26 March 2016, due to multiple incidents with the attitude control system leading to an uncontrolled spin rate and breakup of structurally weak elements.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗Launch
- Launch date
- November 20, 1998 at 06:40 AM UTC
- Launch site
- Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
- Launched by
- Proton-K →
- Operator
- Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center
- Mission
- Zarya
- Launch record
- View full launch →
Orbit
- Orbit regime
- LEO
- Apoapsis
- 189 km
- Periapsis
- 187 km
- Inclination
- 51.6°
- Orbital period
- 88.25 min
Spacecraft
- Operator
- To Be Determined
- Launch mass
- 1.6 kg
- Dimensions
- 0.1 × 0.1 × 0.1 m
Identity
- COSPAR (Int'l)
- 1998-067XT
- NORAD catalog №
- 66907
- Object type
- Payload
- Owner / operator
- To Be Determined
- Status
- Decayed
- Decay / reentry
- May 8, 2026
End of mission
- Last active / ended
- May 8, 2026
- Time in service
- 27.5 years
- Fate
- Reentered Earth's atmosphere and was destroyed.
- Final status
- Decayed