Akatsuki Experiences Glitch During Orbital Insertion

Official announcements from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and various news outlets are reporting that the Venus orbiter Akatsuki had a major malfunction during maneuvers to enter orbit around its target.

At this point, the very fate of the mission is uncertain, experts managing the spacecraft say. It is still uncertain whether the probe managed to enter the correct orbit around Venus.

Akatsuki, which means “dawn” in Japanese, has been traveling through space for the past six months, and managed to reach its destination yesterday, December 6.

Its main mission was to study the extreme weather on the hot planet, and also to make sense of how its clouds develop, and of the sulfur cycle that seems to permeate the Venusian air. As such, this was considered to be the first weather satellite around another planet.

The probe managed to reach the planet at 6:49 pm EST (2349 GMT) on Monday, as it was preparing to enter the most important stage of its flight, which is orbital insertion.

When this happens, spacecraft approaching a planet need to break from the tremendous speeds they catch on after leaving Earth, and they generally use the target planet's atmosphere to do this.

This maneuver has a double role. It decreases speed, while at the same time helping spacecraft find the point were they can enter a stable orbit. Calculations for aerobreaking are tremendously precise, and there is really no room for error.

When the $300 million satellite reached Venus, it was supposed to fire its thrusters in a specific sequence, so that it can enter orbit. This happened early today in Japan Standard Time (JST).

JAXA confirms that the thrusters were indeed ignited. Officials here say that they knew the maneuver would cause a 22-minute break in communications. However, the break lasted for 90 minutes.

The Mainichi Daily News newspaper, in Japan, made this announcement, citing JAXA sources. According to reports from Agence-France Presse, the spacecraft is not in the correct orbit.

Apparently, Akatsuki is also not using all of its communications antennas to contact Earth, which is a further indicator that something is wrong with it, Space reports.

“It is not known which path the probe is following at the moment. We are making maximum effort to readjust the probe,” said today for AFP JAXA official Munetaka Ueno.

The situation is still changing and details of it are scarce. JAXA has a lot of experience with such situations, in which the thruster compartment of their spacecraft break down.

Hopefully, they will be able to correct Akatsuki's trajectory, and allow the probe to continue its planned 2-year mission.