The Status of the Kirari, Optical Inter-orbit Communications Engineering Test Satellite (OICETS)

At 12:13 on November 24 (Japan Standard Time, JST), JAXA found that one of the four reaction wheels was disconnected from the onboard attitude control system of the Kirari, Optical Inter-orbit Communications Engineering Test Satellite (OICETS) when JAXA’s Okinawa Tracking and Communication Station received telemetry from the satellite. The Kirari was launched by a Dnepr Launch Vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Republic of Kazakhstan on August 24, 2005 (JST), and is now under initial function verification.

The Kirari is currently flying normally as it is designed with a redundant system that enables the satellite to control its attitude if one of the four reaction wheels is disconnected.

The optical inter-orbit communications experiment with the Advanced Relay and Technology Mission “ARTEMIS” of the European Space Agency (ESA) is scheduled in early December.