On May 21, 2010, the Akatsuki orbiter (“Dawn” in Japanese) launched from the Tanegashima Space Center atop a H-IIA Launch Vehicle, establishing orbit around Venus in December 2015. In so doing, Akatsuki became the first interplanetary mission launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). For the past eight years, this mission has been continuously monitoring Venus’ atmosphere to monitor its weather patterns using four types of instruments: an ultraviolet and infrared cameras, a high-speed imager, a radio science suite, and an ultra-stable oscillator.
Japan’s Akatsuki Venus orbiter completes its mission
