A satellite designed to orbit the earth at the lowest altitude ever has been successfully launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
The 400-kilogram satellite – known as Tsubame – will be used to take high-resolution images of Earth and measure oxygen levels. If successful, it may pave the way for more super-low-orbit satellites that are easier and cheaper to launch.
Tsubame initially began orbiting at an altitude of 480 kilometres, but will be gradually lowered over the next two years to test how far it can go. It is being driven by a highly fuel-efficient ion engine powered by electricity and xenon gas that JAXA hopes will help withstand atmospheric drag.
Advertisement
The satellite was launched from Tanegashima Space Centre in Kagoshima Prefecture at 10:26 on the morning of December 23. The following day, it sent out signals confirming that everything was working properly.
Most observation satellites orbit at around 600 to 800 kilometres above Earth because they experience too much atmospheric drag at lower altitudes. Tsubame, on the other hand, has been designed to orbit at an extremely-low altitude of 180 kilometres.
The previous record-holder was the European Space Agency’s Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite, which orbited the earth at an altitude of 224 kilometres from 2012 to 2013. It was able to map Earth’s gravity with unprecedented precision, and was even sensitive enough to detect soundwaves from major earthquakes.
