 A model of the satellite | |
| Mission type | Gamma-ray astronomy |
|---|---|
| Operator | ASI |
| COSPAR ID | 2007-013A |
| SATCATno. | 31135 |
| Website | agile |
| Mission duration | 3 years (planned) 16 years and 10 months[1] |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | OHB (in the Milano site), exCompagnia Generale per lo Spazio |
| Launch mass | 352 kilograms (776 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 23 April 2007, 10:00:00 (2007-04-23UTC10Z) UTC |
| Rocket | PSLV C8 |
| Launch site | Satish DhawanSLP |
| Contractor | ISRO |
| End of mission | |
| Decay date | February 18, 2024 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Semi-major axis | 6,892.13 kilometres (4,282.57 mi) |
| Eccentricity | 0.0017574 |
| Perigee altitude | 509 kilometres (316 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 533 kilometres (331 mi) |
| Inclination | 2.47 degrees |
| Period | 94.90 minutes |
| Epoch | 4 December 2013, 04:13:37 UTC[2] |
AGILE (Italian:Astro-Rivelatore Gamma a Immagini Leggero) was anX-ray andgamma ray astronomical satellite of theItalian Space Agency (ASI). Launched in 2007, it de-orbited in February 2024.[3]
AGILE's mission was to observegamma-ray sources in the universe.
AGILE is an Italianhigh-energy astrophysics mission dedicated to the observation of thegamma-ray Universe. Its very innovative instrumentation is unprecedentedly light (100 kg) and the most compact ever operational for high-energy astrophysics (approximately a cube of about 60 cm size) with excellent detection and imaging capability.
Satellite data are collected by the ASIBroglio Space Centre in Malindi (Kenya), then quickly transferred to theSatellite Operations Centre in Fucino, transferred, preprocessed, and stored and analyzed at the ASI Science Data Center (ASDC) inFrascati. In parallel the pre-processed data are transferred at INAF/OASBologna for a fast science alert generation, thus assuring a very rapid response to gamma-ray detections, obtained by special quick look analysis programs and coordinated ground-based and space observation.
Key scientific objectives of the AGILE Mission include the study of:[4]
AGILE's instrumentation includes a Gamma Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) sensitive in the 30 MeV – 50 GeV energy range, a SuperAGILE (SA)hard X-ray monitor sensitive in the 18–60 keV energy range, a Mini-Calorimeter (MCAL) non-imaging gamma-rayscintillation detector sensitive in the 350 keV – 100 MeV energy range,[5] and anAnti-coincidence System (AC), based on a plastic scintillator, to assist with suppressing unwanted background events.
The SuperAGILE SA is an instrument based on a set of foursilicon strip detectors, each equipped with one-dimensional coded mask. The SA is designed to detect X-ray signals from known sources and burst-like signals. It provides long-term monitoring of flux and spectral features. MCAL can also effectively detect high-energy radiation bursts in its energy band.
AGILE was successfully launched on 23 April 2007, from the Indian base ofSriharikota and was inserted in anequatorial orbit with low particle background. It was the First flight of thePSLV with a foreign country's payload as a primary payload. Later that day, ASI made contact with AGILE; its signals were acquired by the ground station at the Broglio Space Centre nearMalindi, Kenya and it was placed in a Sun-pointing mode.[6]
During its operations AGILE surveyed the gamma-ray sky and detected many galactic and extragalactic sources: AGILE discovered gamma-ray emission from themicroquasarCygnus X-3, detected many brightblazars, discovered several new gamma-raypulsars, surveyed theGalactic plane with simultaneous hard X-ray/gamma-ray capability, discovered emission up to 100 MeV fromTerrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes.
Some transient events detected by AGILE are associated with positions not consistent with a known source (Gamma Ray Burst) and have cosmological origins. Others are due tosolar flares, while some are due to Earth atmosphere events (Terrestrial Gamma Flash).
The main results of the AGILE satellite are:
A key aspect of the AGILE data flow is the fastest gamma-ray alert monitoring system of the world. The overall gamma-ray alert monitoring system of AGILE is compound by two independent pipelines that process the data with different data quality results. The INAF/OAS Bologna pipeline processes the data in the fastest possible way, but it generates alert within 0.5–1 hour from the time of the last GRID event acquired in orbit. The ASDC pipeline is more accurate because all events are considered during the analysis but the alerts are generated 3–3.5 hours after.
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