Japan Successfully Launches Second H-2A Rocket

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, February 04, 2002

Japan Successfully Launches Second H-2A Rocket

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The No. 2 unit of Japan's H-2A rocket lifted off Monday in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, carrying experimental equipment into orbit to pave the way for commercial satellite-launching operations, the Kyodo News reported.

The 57-meter-long rocket, developed by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), blasted off from Tanegashima Space Center on the island of Tanegashima in the prefecture at 11:45 a.m. (local time) after being delayed slightly from the scheduled 11:28 a.m. launch as a ship had entered the restricted area beneath the projected flight path.

The launch will pave the way for H-2A rockets to begin commercial operations carrying satellites into space, the report quoted NASDA officials as saying.

Japan's first H2-A was successfully launched last August. The H-2A is an improved version of the H-2, two launches of which ended in failure in February 1998 and November 1999.

The launch was originally scheduled for last Friday but was postponed for technical reasons and was put back to Sunday, but NASDA decided to delay it again as a strong wind was predicted.

The rocket is carrying a device called demonstrator of an atmospheric reentry system (DASH) and a Mission Demonstration Satellite-1 (MDS-1).

Three days after the launch, a 19-kilogram DASH capsule will separate and reenter Earth's atmosphere, taking measurements as it goes. It will land in the Sahara Desert in Mauritania, West Africa, according the report.

The experiment is designed to study the impact of high temperatures generated during reentry. The results will be used in future plans to transport rock and other samples from the Moon and planets back to the Earth.

The MDS-1 will be placed in an elliptical orbit at an altitude ranging from 500 to 36,000 kilometers to check the durability of commercially available semiconductors in space.

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Japan's H-2A Rocket Launched