Hinode (satellite)

Hinode

Artist's impression of the Hinode spacecraft (then known as Solar-B) in orbit
Names	Solar-B
Operator	JAXA / NASA / PPARC
COSPAR ID	2006-041A
SATCAT no.	29479
Website	JAXA Hinode mission, NASA Hinode mission
Mission duration	Elapsed: 18 years, 1 month and 20 days
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass	700 kg[1]
Start of mission
Launch date	21:36:00, 22 September 2006 (UTC) (2006-09-22T21:36:00Z)[2]
Rocket	M-V rocket
Launch site	Uchinoura Space Center
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	sun-synchronous orbit
Main
Wavelengths	Optical, X-ray, EUV
Instruments
Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) X-ray Telescope (XRT) Extreme-Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS)
Solar Terrestrial Probes program ← TIMED STEREO →

Hinode (/ˈhiːnoʊdeɪ/; Japanese: ひので, IPA: [çinode], Sunrise), formerly Solar-B, is a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Solar mission with United States and United Kingdom collaboration. It is the follow-up to the Yohkoh (Solar-A) mission and it was launched on the final flight of the M-V rocket from Uchinoura Space Center, Japan on 22 September 2006 at 21:36 UTC (23 September, 06:36 JST). Initial orbit was perigee height 280 km, apogee height 686 km, inclination 98.3 degrees. Then the satellite maneuvered to the quasi-circular Sun-synchronous orbit over the day/night terminator, which allows near-continuous observation of the Sun. On 28 October 2006, the probe's instruments captured their first images.

The data from Hinode are being downloaded to the Norwegian, terrestrial Svalsat station, operated by Kongsberg a few kilometres west of Longyearbyen, Svalbard. From there, data is transmitted by Telenor through a fibre-optic network to mainland Norway at Harstad, and on to data users in North America, Europe and Japan.