A Japanese H-2A rocket was launched successfully on Tuesday, releasing a satellite and test module into orbit.
”The rocket was launched at 5:20 pm (0820 GMT)” said Junichi Moriuma, representative for the National Space Development Agency (Nasda), minutes after the launch.
”The rocket is so far operating without any problems,” he said.
It was the third launch of an H-2A rocket, which blasted off into a clear blue sky from the national space centre on Tanegashima, an islet off Kyushu Island in southern Japan.
The experiment module was released from the rocket 14 minutes after the launch, followed by the deployment into orbit of the government-owned test satellite about 30 minutes after lift-off, said Yoshihiro Nakamura, another spokesman for the Nasda.
”The work of the rocket was to take the payloads to the space, and it did that. We can call it a successful launch,” he said.
Earlier, an apparent problem with the data feed from the satellite threatened to delay the launch, but engineers traced the glitch to one of two ground-based control consoles.
The H-2A, which costs 10,2-billion yen ($86-million)
to launch, is 57 metres long, and weighs 348 tons.
Japan is vying to enter the commercial satellite launch market, dominated by the United States and Europe. – Sapa-AFP