ABRIXAS

A Broadband Imaging X-ray All-sky Survey, or ABRIXAS, was a space-based German X-ray telescope. It was launched on 28 April 1999 in a Kosmos-3M launch vehicle from Kapustin Yar, Russia, into Earth orbit. The orbit had a periapsis of 549.0 kilometres (341.1 mi), an apoapsis of 598.0 kilometres (371.6 mi), an inclination of 48.0° and an eccentricity of 0.00352, giving it a period of 96 minutes.^[3]

ABRIXAS

Illustration of ABRIXAS in orbit.
Mission type	X-ray astronomy
Operator	DLR
COSPAR ID	1999-022A
SATCAT no.	25721
Mission duration	3 days (mission failure)
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass	550.0 kilograms (1,212.5 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	28 April 1999, 20:30 (1999-04-28UTC20:30Z) UTC
Rocket	Kosmos-3M
Launch site	Kapustin Yar 107
End of mission
Last contact	1 May 1999 (1999-06)[1]
Decay date	31 October 2017[2]
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth Orbit
Semi-major axis	6,869.9 kilometers (4,268.8 mi)
Eccentricity	0.00352
Perigee altitude	549 km (341 mi)
Apogee altitude	598 km (372 mi)
Inclination	48.0 degrees
Period	96.00 minutes
Epoch	28 April 1999, 04:30:00 UTC[3]

The telescope's battery was accidentally overcharged and destroyed three days after the mission started. When attempts to communicate with the satellite – while its solar panels were illuminated by sunlight – failed, the $20 million project was abandoned.^[4] ABRIXAS decayed from orbit on 31 October 2017.

The eROSITA telescope was based on the design of the ABRIXAS observatory.^[5] eROSITA was launched on board the Spektr-RG space observatory on 13 July 2019 from Baikonur to be deployed at the second Lagrange point (L2).^[6]

See also

• Spaceflight portal

• German space programme