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What happened?
On Saturday, the US Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC), which tracks space debris, detected five small objects around the satellite.
Ground control in Japan managed brief contact with the spacecraft after that, but then lost contact.
The satellite also appeared to show a sudden change of course, and observers on Earth have seen it appearing to flash, suggesting it may be tumbling.
The next day, JSpOC referred to the event as a "breakup", although experts have clarified that Hitomi may well be mostly intact.
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