Encyclopedia entry

NEC

Spacecraft · Japan

Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.

Japanese manufacturer of spacecraft. Nippon Electric Corporation, Japan.

Country: Japan
Spacecraft: Marine Observation Satellite, Haruka, Kakehashi, Nozomi, MDS, Kirari, Daichi, Akari
Projects: Muses

Chronology

3 events

04:50 GMT - . Launch Site: Kagoshima. Launch Complex: Kagoshima M-V. Launch Vehicle: M-V.

Haruka - . Payload: MUSES B. Nation: Japan. Agency: ISAS. Manufacturer: NEC. Program: Muses. Class: Astronomy. Type: X-ray astronomy satellite. Spacecraft: Haruka. USAF Sat Cat: 24720 . COSPAR: 1997-005A. Apogee: 21,415 km (13,306 mi). Perigee: 569 km (353 mi). Inclination: 31.40 deg. Period: 379.30 min.

07:55 GMT - . Launch Site: Tanegashima. Launch Complex: Tanegashima Y. LV Family: H-2. Launch Vehicle: H-II.

Kakehashi - . Payload: COMETS. Nation: Japan. Agency: NASDA. Manufacturer: NEC, Toshiba. Class: Communications. Type: Civilian communications satellite. Spacecraft: Kakehashi. USAF Sat Cat: 25175 . COSPAR: 1998-011A. Apogee: 17,727 km (11,015 mi). Perigee: 1,033 km (641 mi). Inclination: 30.10 deg. Period: 328.10 min.
Kakehashi, meaning 'Bridge', was called Communuications and Broadcasting Experimental Test Satellite (COMETS) before launch. It contained Ka-band communications and inter-satellite data relay payloads. Premature shutdown 44 seconds into the H-II second stage second burn put the satellite into a much lower than planned orbit. The on-board Unified Propulsion System was used to raise it to a more useful orbit.

18:12 GMT - . Launch Site: Kagoshima. Launch Complex: Kagoshima M-V. Launch Vehicle: M-V.

Nozomi - . Mass: 258 kg (568 lb). Nation: Japan. Agency: ISAS. Manufacturer: NEC. Class: Mars. Type: Mars probe. Spacecraft: Nozomi. USAF Sat Cat: 25383 . COSPAR: 1998-041A. Apogee: 489,381 km (304,086 mi). Perigee: 703 km (436 mi). Inclination: 27.30 deg. Period: 20,910.00 min.
Originally known as Planet-B; renamed Nozomi ('Hope') after launch. The third stage and payload entered a 146 x 417 km x 31.1 deg parking orbit. The KM-V1 kick (fourth) stage then fired to place the spacecraft into a circumlunar 359 x 401491 km x 28.6 deg orbit. Nozomi made multiple lunar and Earth gravity assist passes to increase its energy for solar orbit insertion and the cruise to Mars.. The spacecraft used a lunar swingby on 24 September and another on 18 December 1998 to increase the apogee of its orbit. It swung by Earth on 20 December at a perigee of about 1000 km. The gravitational assist from the swingby coupled with a 7 minute burn of the bipropellant engine put Nozomi into an escape trajectory towards Mars. It was scheduled to arrive at Mars on 11 October 1999 at 7:45:14 GMT, but the Earth swingby left the spacecraft with insufficient acceleration and two course correction burns on 21 December used more propellant than planned, leaving the spacecraft short of fuel. The new plan is for Nozomi to remain in heliocentric orbit for an additional four years and encounter Mars at a slower relative velocity in December 2003.