Hisaki, also known as the Spectroscopic Planet Observatory for Recognition of Interaction of Atmosphere (SPRINT-A) was a Japanese ultraviolet astronomy satellite operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The first mission of the Small Scientific Satellite program,[3] it was launched in September 2013 on the maiden flight of the Epsilon rocket. It was used for extreme ultraviolet observations of the Solar System planets.
Hisaki was decommissioned by deactivation on 8 December 2023.[1]
Hisaki was launched with an Epsilon rocket, which was its first flight. The four-stage Epsilon rocket[4] flew from the Mu rocket launch complex at the Uchinoura Space Center. The launch occurred at 05:00 UTC on 14 September 2013, following a scrubbed launch attempt on 27 August 2013.[5] Following its successful insertion into orbit and deployment of its solar arrays, the satellite was renamed Hisaki, having been designated SPRINT-A until that point.[6]
Hisaki was named after a cape Hisaki (火崎, literally Cape Fire) used by local fishermen to pray for safe travels in the eastern part of Kimotsuki, Kagoshima near the Uchinoura Space Center, but has the additional meaning of "beyond the Sun".[7][8] An old name for the mission was EXCEED (Extreme Ultraviolet Spectroscope for Exospheric Dynamics).[9]
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
