Astro H

Also called Hitomi, NeXT (New X-ray Telescope)

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General

Designation	41337 / 16012A
Launch date	17 Feb 2016
Country of origin	Japan
Mission	Scientific: X-ray astronomy
Perigee/Apogee	580 km (sun-synchronous)
Inclination	31°
Period
Launch vehicle	H2A #42

It is equipped with a Canadian laser measurement system, the Canadian ASTRO-H Metrology System (CAMS), provided by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Built by Neptec Design Group Ltd., CAMS is a precision optics technology that will calibrate measurements taken with the observatory's Hard X-ray Telescope.

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End of life

Out of service	25 Mar 2016
Cause	Satellite left proper pointing on 25 Mar 2016 at 19:10 UTC after invalid attitude data triggered onboard thrusters. Partial breakup occured around 01:40 UTC on 26 Mar as the spin went out of control. After that only a few seconds of beacon signals were received. At least 10 pieces of debris have been identified.
Decay

at ref="http://sat-index.co.uk/catsearch.php?catno=41337" target="satindex">sat-index articles

n2yo.com tracking

Technical data

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Specifications

Prime contractor
Platform
Mass at launch	2700 kg
Dry mass
Dimension
Solar array
Stabilization
DC power	3.5 kW
Design lifetime	3 years

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