AGILE (satellite)

AGILE
Spacecraft properties
A model of the satellite.

Mission type	Gamma-ray astronomy
Operator	ASI
COSPAR ID	2007-013A
SATCAT no.	31135
Website	agile.rm.iasf.cnr.it
Mission duration	8 years


Manufacturer	Compagnia generale per lo spazio, ex Carlo Gavazzi Space
Launch mass	352 kilograms (776 lb)


Start of mission
Launch date	23 April 2007, 10:00:00 (2007-04-23UTC10Z) UTC
Rocket	PSLV C8
Launch site	Satish Dhawan SLP
Contractor	ISRO


Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Semi-major axis	6,892.13 kilometres (4,282.57 mi)
Eccentricity	0.0017574
Perigee	509 kilometres (316 mi)
Apogee	533 kilometres (331 mi)
Inclination	2.47 degrees
Period	94.90 minutes
Epoch	4 December 2013, 04:13:37 UTC^[1]

AGILE (Astro‐Rivelatore Gamma a Immagini Leggero) is an X-ray and Gamma ray astronomical satellite of the Italian Space Agency (ASI).

Objectives

AGILE's mission is to observe gamma-ray sources in the universe. Key scientific objectives of the AGILE Mission include the study of:^[2]

Active Galactic Nuclei
Gamma-Ray Bursts
X-ray and gamma galactic sources
Non-identified gamma sources
Diffuse galactic gamma emissions
Diffuse extra-galactic gamma emissions
Fundamental physics

Instrumentation

AGILE's instrumentation includes a Gamma Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) sensitive in the 30 MeV - 50 GeV energy range, a SuperAGILE (SA) hard X-ray monitor sensitive in the 18–60 keV energy range, a Mini-Calorimeter (MCAL) non-imaging gamma-ray scintillation detector sensitive in the 350 keV - 100 MeV energy range,^[3] and an Anti-coincidence System (AC), based on a plastic scintillator, to assist with suppressing unwanted background events.

The SuperAGILE SA is an instrument based on a set of four silicon strip detectors, each equipped with one-dimensional coded mask. The SA is designed to detect X-Ray signals from known sources and burst-like signals. It provides long-term monitoring of flux and spectral features. MCAL can also effectively detect high-energy radiation bursts in its energy band.

Launch and operations

AGILE was successfully launched on 23 April 2007, from the Indian base of Sriharikota and was inserted in an equatorial orbit with low particle background. On 23 April 2007, ASI made contact with AGILE; its signals were acquired by the ground station at the Broglio Space Centre near Malindi, Kenya and it was placed in a Sun-pointing mode.^[4]

Results

Some transient events detected by AGILE are associated with positions not consistent with a known source (Gamma Ray Burst) and have cosmological origins. Others are due to solar flares, while some are due to Earth atmosphere events (Terrestrial Gamma Flash).

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to AGILE (satellite).

↑ Peat, Chris (4 December 2013). "AGILE - Orbit". Heavens Above. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
↑ ASI AGILE
↑ Scientiﬁc Goals and Instrument Performance of the Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector AGILE
↑ "It will be Israeli satellite in August". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 25 April 2007. Archived from the original on 27 April 2007.

External links

"AGILE – Gamma Ray Light Detector – Astrorivelatore Gamma ad Immagini LEggero". Carlo Gavazzi Space.
"AGILE Launch Campaign". iasf-bo. Archived from the original on 21 April 2007.
"AGILE - Status and recent detections". INAF-IAPS.

Space observatories
Operating	AGILE AMS-02 Astrosat CALET Chandra (AXAF) DAMPE Fermi Gaia HXMT (Insight) Hinode (Solar-B) HiRISE Hisaki (SPRINT-A) Hubble INTEGRAL IBEX IRIS Kepler LISA Pathfinder MAXI Mikhailo Lomonosov MOST NEOSSat NICER NuSTAR Odin PAMELA R/HESSI SDO SOHO SOLAR Spektr-R Spitzer Swift TUGSAT-1 & UniBRITE-1 WISE XMM-Newton
Planned	ISS-CREAM (2017) Mini-EUSO (2017) Nano-JASMINE (2017) CHEOPS (2018) James Webb (JWST) (2018) ORBIS (2018) Solar Orbiter (SolO) (2018) Spektr-RG (2018) Stars-AO (2018) TESS (2018) K-EUSO (2019) iWF-MAXI (2019) Public Telescope (PST) (2019) Astro-1 Telescope (2020) Euclid (2020) IXPE (2020) Spektr-UV (2021) SVOM (2021) XARM (2021) Space Solar Telescope Xuntian (2022) Solar-C (2023) PLATO (2026) Spektr-M (2026+) ATHENA (2028) LISA (2034)
Proposed	ATLAST EXCEDE Fresnel Imager FINESSE FOCAL HDST Hibari Hypertelescope JEM-EUSO LiteBIRD LUVOIR NEOCam New Worlds Mission NRO donation to NASA Small-JASMINE Sentinel Solar-D SPICA THEIA WFIRST
Retired	Akari (Astro-F) (2006–11) ALEXIS (1993–2005) ATM (1973–74) ASCA (Astro-D) (1993–2000) Astro-1 (BBXRT HUT) (1990) Astro-2 (HUT) (1995) Astron (1983–89) ANS (1974–76) BeppoSAX (1996–2003) CHIPSat (2003–08) Compton (CGRO) (1991–2000) COROT (2006–13) Cos-B (1975–82) COBE (1989–93) EPOCh (2008) EPOXI (2010) EXOSAT (1983–86) EUVE (1992–2001) FUSE (1999–2007) Kvant-1 (1987–2001) GALEX (2003–13) Gamma (1990–92) Ginga (Astro-C) (1987–91) Granat (1989–98) Hakucho (CORSA-ｂ) (1979–85) HALCA (MUSES-B) (1997–2005) HEAO-1 (1977–79) Herschel (2009–13) Hinotori (Astro-A) (1981–91) HEAO-2 (Einstein Obs.) (1978–82) HEAO-3 (1979–81) HETE-2 (2000–07?) Hipparcos (1989–93) IUE (1978–96) IRAS (1983) IRTS (1995–96) ISO (1996–98) IXAE (1996–2004) Kristall (1990–2001) LEGRI (1997–2002) MSX (1996–97) OAO-2 (1968–73) OAO-3 (Copernicus) (1972–81) Orion 1/2 (1971/1973) Planck (2009–13) RELIKT-1 (1983–84) ROSAT (1990–99) RXTE (1995–2012) SAMPEX (1992–2004) SAS-B (1972–73) SAS-C (1975–79) Suzaku (Astro-EII) (2005–15) Taiyo (SRATS) (1975-80) Tenma (Astro-B) (1983–1985) Uhuru (1970–73) WMAP (2001–10) WISE (first mission: 2009–11) Yokoh (Solar-A) (1991–2001)
Hibernating (Mission completed)	SWAS (1998–2005) TRACE (1998–2010)
Lost	OAO-1/OAO-B (1966/1970) CORSA (1976) ABRIXAS (1999) HETE (1996) WIRE (1999) Astro-E (2000) Tsubame (2014–) Hitomi (Astro-H) (2016)
Cancelled	Astro-G Constellation-X Darwin Destiny EChO Eddington FAME GEMS IXO JDEM LOFT SIM & SIMlite SNAP TAUVEX TPF XEUS
See also	Great Observatories program List of space telescopes List of proposed space observatories
Category

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