Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ISAS SitemapJAXA Sitemap

TOP > Our Enterprises > Missions > Test Satellite TANSEI-4 (MS-T4)

TANSEI-4 (MS-T4)

TANSEI-4 (MS-T4)

Mission Profile

Name (pre-launch in parentheses) TANSEI-4 (MS-T4)
International Designation Code 1980-015A
Objectives Performance test of M-3S rocket, and experiments of future satellite-control systems including automatic control of spin-axis solar-offset orientation by magnetic force and attitude control by fly wheels.
Launch Date 09:40, February 17, 1980 (JST)
Location Kagoshima Space Center (Uchinoura)
Launch Vehicle
Configuration Weight 185 kg
Shape Eight square pillar, 928mm diameter, 850mm high
Four solar-array paddles



[Click image for enlargement]
Orbit Altitude Perigee 521 km, Apogee 606 km
Inclination 39°
Type of Orbit Near-circular
Period 96 min
Scientific Instruments
  1. Solar-array paddles
  2. S band telemetry
  3. Sun sensor
  4. Geomagnetic sensor
  5. Bragg spectrometer
  6. Ampere integrator
  7. Magnetic valve recorder
End of Operation May 13, 1983
Reentered Date May 13, 1983
Operation In its first orbit around the earth, the yo-yo despinner was activated to reduce spin from 2.1 rps to 18 rpm and the solar-array paddles were deployed. A variety of engineering experiments were then conducted including: magnetic attitude control; wheel attitude control; tracking by laser reflector; tracking by radar transponder; spin-up by MPD arc jet; and recording and replay of magnetic valve data recorder. TANSEI-4 also observed solar flares with the solar Bragg X-ray spectrometer. In addition, we obtained good results on experiments using star mapper and S-band telemetry, performance evaluation of a new type of solar battery, performance evaluation of material for thermal control, and testing the AH integrator to manage the power system.