The next chance of a meeting between the spacecraft and the planet Venus will be only in six years. Japan has a history of space failures of this type
Another failure for a Japanese spacecraft. The Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) announced that the Akatsuki spacecraft failed to enter orbit around Venus. The control personnel performed an entry maneuver to the orbit, but unfortunately, the agency said, it was discovered that the capsule was not injected into the predicted orbit. Despite the disappointment, all may not be lost, if the spacecraft can be stabilized there is a chance that it will be able to enter orbit in six years when it passes by Venus again.
At a press conference, project manager Masato Nakamura said the spacecraft was functioning but had been put into standby mode with its solar collectors facing the sun. It also spins slowly, about every ten minutes and radio contact is possible for 40 seconds at a time.
Engineers use ground stations in Japan and NASA's Deep Space Network to send it stabilization commands and determine its speed. Jaxa said it has formed an investigative team to investigate the cause of the failure and will provide updates when the investigation results.
Japan had a similar mishap with the Nozomi spacecraft on Mars in 2003. They lost contact with the spacecraft just five days before it was supposed to enter orbit around the red planet.
Akatsuki was launched from the Tengeshima Space Center on May 21, 2010.
