Planetary science

Akatsuki

Completed

Image: 江戸村のとくぞう · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Launched: 20 May 201021:58:22 UTC
End declared: 18 Sept 2025
Duration: 15 years 3 months
Destinations: Venus

A JAXA orbiter that studied Venus's weather and fast-moving atmosphere. It missed its first attempt to enter orbit in 2010 and succeeded five years later.

Milestones

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2012201420162018202020222024

Spacecraft

Akatsuki

Orbiter

Completed

Orbiter with five cameras observing at wavelengths from ultraviolet to infrared, each sensitive to a different layer of cloud.

Launch mass: 647 kg
Dry mass: 327 kg
Size: 1.5 m × 1 m
Power: Solar
Built by: NEC
End declared: 18 Sept 2025
Designator: 2010-020D

Mission details from global.jaxa.jp.