1970–1985: Solar-System Firsts and Scientific Reach
Hinotori
Japan’s first solar observatory.
Era 2 of 6 · full record in the catalog
- Launch
- year known only: 1981
- Lead / partner
- Japan
- Target
- Earth orbit
- Category
- Solar astronomy
- Status
- Success
- Vehicle
- Mu-3S
- Mass
- unknown
- Orbit / trajectory
- Geocentric
Why it happened
Hinotori flew during 1970–1985: Solar-System Firsts and Scientific Reach, as part of Japan's work toward earth orbit. A sourced write-up of the context around this mission is still on the editorial queue; nothing here is invented to fill the gap.
The mission
The full narrative of this mission is pending research and writing. What is recorded so far: Japan’s first solar observatory.
Results
Japan’s first solar observatory.
Related missions
Sources & image credits
- Masahiko OHKUBO, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · license: cc-by-2.0 (source, checked 2026-08-23)
- Mission record: AntarikshPedia canonical dataset (data-sources/missions_timeline.md)
- Specifications reference: NASA NSSDCA Master Catalog
![source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kintetsu_80000_series_"Hinotori"_2022-04-02.jpg){kind=link}