Abrixas

A Broadband Imaging X-Ratz All-sky Survey Satellite

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General

Designation	25721 / 99022A
Launch date	28 Apr 1999
Country of origin	Germany
Mission	Astronomy: X-ray astronomy
Perigee/Apogee	600 km
Inclination	51°
Period
Launch vehicle	Cosmos C
Launch site	Kapustin Yar (reopened specially)

DARA satellite developed with the help of the GFZ Postdam, Max-Planck-Institute for extraterrestrial Physics Garching, and the astronomy and astrophysics institute of the Tubingen university. Mission cost: $25 million. The satellite was not insured.

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End of life

Out of service	1 May 1999
Cause	the battery failed. Enough power might be obtained later to regain contact
Decay	31 Oct 2017

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External resources

http://wave.xray.mpe.mpg.de/abrixas

http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/Images/misc_missions/abrixas_big.gif
sat-index articles

Technical data

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Specifications

Prime contractor	OHB System
Platform
Mass at launch	460 kg
Mass in orbit
Dimension	2.5 x 3 x 1.2 m
Solar array
Stabilization	3-axis
DC power	200 W
Design lifetime	3 years

MPE/Garching and the Astrophysical Institute in Potsdam developed the scientific payload, a set of seven hard X-ray imaging telescopes with an X-ray CCD detector which will carry out an all-sky survey in the 1-10 keV band with 30 arcsecond resolution.

The imaging pn-CCD detector used for ABRIXAS including electronics is identical with the EPIC-Maxi detector developed by MPE/IAAT for XMM.

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