GINGA
GINGA was a completed Japanese X-ray astronomy mission that operated from low Earth orbit after its 5 February 1987 launch. It surveyed galactic and extragalactic X-ray sources and produced major observations of supernovae, black-hole candidates, X-ray binaries, active galaxies, and transient sources.
Follow this mission
Alerts are unavailable because this mission is no longer active.
Identity
- Aliases
- GingaASTRO-CGinga mission1987-012A
- Name
- GINGA
- Status
- completed
Details
- Astronauts
- -
- Description
- GINGA was a completed Japanese X-ray astronomy mission that operated from low Earth orbit after its 5 February 1987 launch. It surveyed galactic and extragalactic X-ray sources and produced major observations of supernovae, black-hole candidates, X-ray binaries, active galaxies, and transient sources.
- Destination
- Near-circular Earth orbit at approximately 530 km perigee and 595 km apogee (31° inclination; 96-minute period)
- End Date
- 1991-11-01
- Launch Site
- Outcome
- GINGA delivered a broad X-ray survey and high-sensitivity observations, including the detection of X-rays from Supernova 1987A and studies that advanced the identification of black-hole candidates and active-galactic-nucleus behavior.
- Programs
- -
- Start Date
- 1987-02-05
- Vehicle Families
Links
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 1, 2026 at 13:01:56 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 21, 2026 at 02:12:58 UTC
Other
- Affiliations
- Space Stations
- -
- Vehicles