WINDS (Wideband InterNetworking engineering test and Demonstration Satellite, also known asKizuna), was a Japanesecommunication satellite. Launch was originally scheduled for 2007.
The launch date was eventually set for 15 February 2008, but a problem detected in a second stage maneuvering thruster delayed it to 23 February. Lift-off occurred at 08:55 GMT on 23 February fromTanegashima Space Center, and the satellite separated from itsH-IIA carrier rocket into aGeosynchronous transfer orbit at 09:23.
WINDS was used to relay theinternet to Japanese homes and businesses throughKa-Band signals. It also tested technologies that would be utilised by future Japanese communication satellites. A part of Japan'si-Space program, WINDS was operated byJAXA andNICT.
Prior to launch, a JAXA brochure claimed that WINDS will be able to provide 155Mbit/s download speeds to home users with 45-centimetre diameter satellite dishes, while providing industrial users via 5-metre diameter dishes with 1.2Gbit/s speeds.[3]
WINDS had a launch mass of 4,850 kg, reducing to a mass of around 2,750 kg after thrusting to its operational orbit. The spacecraft is 8 m x 3 m x 2 m in size, and its solar panels have a span of 21.5 metres. It has three-axis stabilisation, and a design life expectancy of five years.
The satellite became inoperable due to communications failure on 9 February 2019,[4] and it was decommissioned by the transmission of a deactivation command at 06:54 GMT on 27 February 2019.[5]
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
This article about one or more spacecraft ofJapan is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it.
