Akatsuki is a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency robotic space probe launched in 2010 to study the atmosphere and climate of Venus. The spacecraft main engine failed during its first attempt to enter orbit around Venus in December 2010, sending it instead into an orbit around the Sun, but mission engineers used its smaller attitude control thrusters to successfully place it into Venus orbit on a second attempt five years later, in December 2015. Once in orbit, Akatsuki became the first spacecraft to study the puzzling super rotation of Venus atmosphere, which circles the planet far faster than the planet itself rotates.
Facts
Spacecraft Type Manufacturer Status
Status (category)Mission Complete / Ended 1 Connections
Mission Of
Source Akatsuki (spacecraft) (Wikipedia)
Operated By
Akatsuki is a JAXA mission, Japan's Venus Climate Orbiter.
Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Additional Source Akatsuki (spacecraft) (Wikipedia)Wikipedia: Akatsuki (spacecraft), lead section
Orbits
Akatsuki entered orbit around Venus on December 7, 2015, after an earlier failed attempt in 2010, and remains in orbit conducting atmospheric observations.
Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Additional Source Akatsuki (spacecraft) (Wikipedia)Wikipedia: Akatsuki (spacecraft), lead section
In the Other Atlases
Manufactured By
Also in Business Atlas: the manufacturer of this subject.
Sources
1. Akatsuki (spacecraft) (Wikipedia)
Infobox, Spacecraft type
Venus orbiter
Infobox, Launch date
21 May 2010, 21:58:22 UTC
Infobox, Manufacturer
NEC Space Technologies
Body text, Mission end section
Operation was terminated officially on 18 September 2025
- In Group: Venus Probes, Akatsuki (????, ?; "Dawn"), also known as the Venus Climate Orbiter (VCO) and Planet-C, was a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) space probe tasked with studying the atmosphere of Venus. I
Part Of: Akatsuki Mission, Lead paragraph, part-of
Akatsuki (あかつき, 暁; "Dawn"), also known as the Venus Climate Orbiter (VCO) and Planet-C, was a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) space probe tasked with studying the atmosphere of Venus.
Mission Of: Akatsuki Mission, Lead paragraph, mission-of
Akatsuki (あかつき, 暁; "Dawn"), also known as the Venus Climate Orbiter (VCO) and Planet-C, was a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) space probe tasked with studying the atmosphere of Venus.
- Operated By: JAXA, Wikipedia: Akatsuki (spacecraft), lead section
- Orbits: Venus, Wikipedia: Akatsuki (spacecraft), lead section
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