Tag: JAXA
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Japanese H-2A rocket lifts off with two satellites
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 0300 GMT Saturday (10:00 p.m. Friday) with confirmation of a successful launch. A Japanese H-2A rocket lifts off at 0126:22 GMT Saturday (8:26:22 p.m. EST Friday) from the Tanegashima Space Center. Credit: JAXA Two research satellites to probe Earth’s climate patterns and test ion engine technology to counter atmospheric drag in an…
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NASA confirms contribution to Japanese-led Mars mission
Artist’s concept of the MMX spacecraft at Phobos. Credit: JAXA/NASA NASA announced Thursday it will fund development of a scientific instrument that will fly on Japan’s Martian Moons Exploration mission, a robotic probe set for launch in 2024 to bring back the first samples from Mars’ largest moon Phobos. A neutron and gamma-ray spectrograph developed…
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Successful H-2A rocket launch rounds out Japanese navigation network
Credit: JAXA Japan’s regional satellite navigation network, conceived to improve GPS coverage over Japanese territory, received its fourth member Monday with an on-target H-2A rocket launch. The addition of the Michibiki 4 satellite puts Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System on course to begin full operational service early next year, coming after the launch of the network’s…
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Japanese H-2A rocket launch rescheduled for Saturday
A photo of the H-2A rocket on the launch pad during a launch attempt Aug. 12. Credit: MHI A heavy-duty version of Japan’s H-2A rocket is now scheduled to lift off Saturday with a geostationary navigation satellite after a week-long delay to diagnose and resolve a leak in the rocket’s propulsion system, the Japanese space…
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Live coverage: H-2A rocket blasts off with navigation satellite
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Japanese H-2A rocket with the Michibiki 3 navigation satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
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Poor weather forecast delays launch of Japanese navigation satellite
Updated Aug. 10 with new launch window. The H-2A rocket’s first stage was positioned on its mobile launch platform July 3 in preparation for the launch of the Michibiki 3 navigation satellite. Credit: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries The Japanese space agency said Wednesday the launch of an H-2A rocket with the country’s third navigation satellite was…
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BepiColombo Mercury mission tested for journey into ‘pizza oven’
A view of the BepiColombo spacecraft stacked in launch configuration at the European Space Agency’s ESTEC test center in the Netherlands. The sunshield cover for Japan’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter is pictured at lower right. Credit: Airbus Defense and Space Three spacecraft built in Europe and Japan have completed their final joint tests to ensure they…
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JAXA, NASA approve replacement for failed Hitomi astronomy satellite
Artist’s concept of the failed Hitomi satellite. Credit: JAXA The Japanese space agency is moving ahead with a smaller-scale X-ray astronomy satellite to replace the failed Hitomi observatory, which spun out of control about a month-and-a-half after its launch last year. The X-ray Astronomy Recovery Mission, or XARM, could launch as soon as March 2021,…
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Japanese navigation craft successfully delivered to orbit
An H-2A rocket lifted off Thursday morning, Japanese time, with the Michibiki 2 navigation satellite. Credit: JAXA Japan deployed the first of three navigation satellites it intends to launch in the next year Thursday, sending a 4.4-ton (4-metric ton) spacecraft on the way to a high-altitude orbital perch on top of an H-2A rocket to…
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Japan’s H-IIA conducts Michibiki-2 launch
Japan’s H-IIA rocket launched the second navigation satellite in the country’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System in the first of three launches scheduled for Thursday. Liftoff for the Michibiki-2 satellite took place from the Tanegashima Space Centre, on schedule, at 09:17 JST (00:17 UTC). JAXA Launch: The payload of Thursday’s launch, Michibiki No.2, is the second member…