| ABRIXAS | |
| Mission Type: | X-ray astronomy |
| Operator: | DLR |
| Cospar Id: | 1999-022A |
| Satcat: | 25721 |
| Mission Duration: | 3 days (mission failure) |
| Launch Date: | UTC |
| Launch Rocket: | Kosmos-3M |
| Launch Site: | Kapustin Yar 107 |
| Last Contact: | [1] |
| Decay Date: | 31 October 2017[2] |
| Orbit Epoch: | 28 April 1999, 04:30:00 UTC |
| Orbit Reference: | Geocentric |
| Orbit Regime: | Low Earth Orbit |
| Orbit Periapsis: | 549km (341miles) |
| Orbit Apoapsis: | 598km (372miles) |
| Orbit Inclination: | 48.0 degrees |
| Orbit Semimajor: | 6869.9km (4,268.8miles) |
| Orbit Eccentricity: | 0.00352 |
| Orbit Period: | 96.00 minutes |
| Apsis: | gee |
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 549km (341miles), an apoapsis of 598km (372miles), an inclination of 48.0° and an eccentricity of 0.00352, giving it a period of 96 minutes.[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]
