| WINDS (Kizuna) | |
| Mission Type: | Communication |
| Operator: | JAXA/NICT |
| Website: | JAXA |
| Cospar Id: | 2008-007A |
| Satcat: | 32500 |
| Mission Duration: | 5 years (design) Final: |
| Spacecraft Bus: | NX-G |
| Manufacturer: | NEC |
| Launch Mass: | 4850kg (10,690lb) |
| Bol Mass: | 2750kg (6,060lb) |
| Launch Date: | UTC |
| Launch Site: | Tanegashima Y1 |
| Launch Contractor: | Mitsubishi |
| Disposal Type: | Decommissioned |
| Deactivated: | UTC |
| Orbit Epoch: | 00:00:00 UTC 2016-08-31 |
| Orbit Reference: | Geocentric |
| Orbit Regime: | Geostationary |
| Orbit Periapsis: | 35784.1km (22,235.2miles) |
| Orbit Apoapsis: | 35803.8km (22,247.4miles) |
| Orbit Inclination: | 0.2 ° |
| Orbit Period: | 1,436.1 minutes |
| Orbit Semimajor: | 42164km (26,199miles) |
| Orbit Longitude: | 143° East |
| Apsis: | gee |
WINDS (Wideband InterNetworking engineering test and Demonstration Satellite, also known as Kizuna), was a Japanese communication satellite. Launch was originally scheduled for 2007. The launch date was eventually set for 15 February 2008, but a problem detected in a second stage maneuvering thruster delayed it to 23 February. Lift-off occurred at 08:55 GMT on 23 February from Tanegashima Space Center, and the satellite separated from its H-IIA carrier rocket into a Geosynchronous transfer orbit at 09:23. WINDS was used to relay the internet to Japanese homes and businesses through Ka-Band signals. It also tested technologies that would be utilised by future Japanese communication satellites. A part of Japan's i-Space program, WINDS was operated by JAXA and NICT.
Prior to launch, a JAXA brochure claimed that WINDS will be able to provide 155 Mbit/s download speeds to home users with 45-centimetre diameter satellite dishes, while providing industrial users via 5-metre diameter dishes with 1.2 Gbit/s speeds.[1]
WINDS had a launch mass of 4,850 kg, reducing to a mass of around 2,750 kg after thrusting to its operational orbit. The spacecraft is 8 m x 3 m x 2 m in size, and its solar panels have a span of 21.5 metres. It has three-axis stabilisation, and a design life expectancy of five years.
The satellite became inoperable due to communications failure on 9 February 2019, and it was decommissioned by the transmission of a deactivation command at 06:54 GMT on 27 February 2019.