National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Marshall Space Flight Center

Hinode (Solar-B)

Hinode (Solar-B)

Satellite Tracking

Tracking

Click on the above picture to view current Hinode's position in orbit.

Hinode follows a sun-synchronous orbit over the day/night terminator at an altitude of more than 600 km.

This orbit advantageously allows for routine passes over data downlink centers at roughly the same local time each day while also reducing the amount of time the satellite spends in Earth's shadow.

An animation of this orbit can be found here. (Animation credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.)