Tag: Japan
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Brazilian and Japanese communications satellites launched by Ariane 5 rocket
Closing out a banner year of launches, an Ariane 5 rocket thundered into space Wednesday from French Guiana with two commercial communications satellites manufactured in California to expand television and broadband access in Latin America and broadcast television programming in Japan. The seventh Ariane 5 flight of the year took off at 2030 GMT (3:30…
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Photos: Ariane 5’s journey to the launch pad
Topped with Brazilian and Japanese television broadcasting satellites, an Ariane 5 rocket rolled out to its launch pad in French Guiana on Tuesday, a day before its scheduled blastoff on the way to geostationary transfer orbit. The 180-foot-tall (55-meter) rocket emerged from its final assembly building behind a diesel-powered Titan tug Tuesday morning for the…
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Live coverage: Japan’s enhanced Epsilon booster blasts off
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Epsilon rocket rocket with Japan’s Exploration of Energization and Radiation in Geospace, or ERG, mission. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter. JAXA’s live video stream begins at 1040 GMT (5:40 a.m. EST).
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Research platform launched to brave Van Allen radiation belts
The Epsilon rocket blasted off at 1100 GMT (6 a.m. EST; 8 p.m. Japan Standard Time) Tuesday. Credit: JAXA Japan launched a research satellite Tuesday to repeatedly fly through the Van Allen belts high above Earth, helping scientists sort out how chaotic geomagnetic storms form and evolve and potentially endanger astronauts, spacecraft and infrastructure vital…
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Japan prepares launch of satellite to probe Earth’s radiation belts
Artist’s concept of the ERG spacecraft in orbit, backdropped by an false-color illustration of Earth’s magnetosphere. Credit: JAXA Japanese engineers aim to launch an upgraded Epsilon booster Tuesday with a satellite to study the origins of powerful geomagnetic storms, phenomena that trigger picturesque polar auroras but could disrupt communications and and damage electric grids. The…
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Last Ariane 5 flight of the year cleared for launch
The Swiss-built payload fairing for the Ariane 5 rocket is seen before encapsulation of the Star One D1 and JCSAT 15 satellites. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – S. Martin Arianespace officials have approved the rollout and launch of the final Ariane 5 flight of the year, set to blast off Wednesday…
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Timeline of events during Epsilon rocket’s launch with the ERG mission
The ground track for the Epsilon rocket’s launch with Japan’s ERG mission. Credit: JAXA An Epsilon rocket is set to send a Japanese space weather research probe into an orbit stretching more than 20,000 miles (33,000 kilometers) above Earth to investigate how the Van Allen radiation belts shrink and swell with variable solar activity. The Exploration of…
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Japanese HTV makes battery delivery to International Space Station
The sixth Japanese HTV supply ship was grappled by the space station’s robotic arm at 1037 GMT (5:37 a.m. EST) Tuesday after a four-day pursuit following launch on an H-2B rocket. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now Four days after a picture-perfect blastoff from southern Japan, a cargo-carrying supply freighter arrived at the International Space Station on…
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Timeline of the H-2B rocket’s launch of the Kounotori 6 supply ship
Japan’s Kounotori 6 cargo carrier will get a boost from a powerful H-2B rocket to send the supply ship and its 4.5 tons of provisions and experiments on a four-day pursuit of the International Space Station. The sixth H-2 Transfer Vehicle is set for liftoff at 1326 GMT (8:26 a.m. EST; 10:26 p.m. Japan Standard…
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Live coverage: Japanese HTV resupply freighter captured by station robotic arm
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an H-2B rocket with Japan’s sixth H-2 Transfer Vehicle on a resupply mission to the International Space Station. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.