This solar physics satellite was launched into space from the Uchinoura Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture on September 23, 2006. It uses solar batteries to orbit the Earth at an altitude of 680 kilometers. The purpose of the satellite is to study solar mechanisms, including the generation and disappearance of magnetic fields, fluctuations in total radiation, generation of infrared and X-rays, explosion and expansions of the sun’s atmosphere (coronas), and other phenomena. It is equipped with three telescopes and has already observed a total solar eclipse and giant flares. It continues to send data back to Earth.