PROCYON

PROCYON
Mission type Asteroid flyby, technology demonstration
Operator University of Tokyo / JAXA
COSPAR ID 2014-076D
Website PROCYON on University of Tokyo site
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass Total: 67 kg (148 lb)
Dry mass 64.5 kg (142 lb)
Dimensions 0.55 × 0.55 × 0.67 m (1.8 × 1.8 × 2.2 ft)
Power 25
Start of mission
Launch date 3 December 2014, 04:22 UTC
Rocket H-IIA 202
Launch site LA-Y, Tanegashima Space Center
Flyby of Earth
Closest approach December 2015
Flyby of yet undecided asteroid
Closest approach to be decided
← Hodoyoshi 4

PROCYON (Proximate Object Close flyby with Optical Navigation) is an asteroid fly-by probe that was launched together with Hayabusa 2 on 4 December 2014 13:22:04 (JST). It was developed by University of Tokyo and JAXA.

As of April 2015, it is expected to flyby the asteroid 2000 DP107 in 2016.[1]

Mission overview

PROCYON was launched as secondary payload together with the Hayabusa 2 asteroid landing probe. After separation from the carrier rocket, PROCYON was left on the heliocentric orbit, where it is going to perform a deep-space maneuver (DSM) using an experimental ion engine. After imparting 95 m/s of delta-v and spending 20% of the on-board xenon propellant, PROCYON will perform an Earth flyby in December 2015. This flyby will allow PROCYON to transition to a trajectory passing closer to the main asteroid belt. Before the flyby, a specific asteroid will be selected, and Earth flyby parameters will be adjusted accordingly. The rest of the xenon propellant will be used between the Earth flyby and asteroid flyby to ensure a controlled flyby distance of 30 km.[2]

Instruments

See also

References

  1. ↑ 超小型探査機「PROCYON」 二重小惑星を目指して航行中 [Very Small Probe PROCYON Cruising Toward a Binary Asteroid]. Space Elevator News. April 7, 2015. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  2. ↑ "50kg- class Deep Space Exploration Technology Demonstration Micro-spacecraft PROCYON". digitalcommons.edu.

External links