{"id":15109,"date":"2016-11-01T20:21:18","date_gmt":"2016-11-01T12:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/key-events-during-the-h-2a-rocket-launch-with-himawari-9\/"},"modified":"2016-11-01T20:21:18","modified_gmt":"2016-11-01T12:21:18","slug":"key-events-during-the-h-2a-rocket-launch-with-himawari-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/key-events-during-the-h-2a-rocket-launch-with-himawari-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Key events during the H-2A rocket launch with Himawari 9"},"content":{"rendered":"

Japan\u2019s Himawari 9 weather satellite will ride into space atop an H-2A rocket from Tanegashima Space Center and reach a preliminary geostationary transfer orbit within 28 minutes of liftoff.<\/p>\n

The 7,700-pound (3,500-kilogram) satellite will blast off from Launch Pad No. 1 at the Yoshinobu launch complex at Tanegashina Space Center, a picturesque spaceport carved on the southern edge of Tanegashima Island in southern Japan.<\/p>\n

The H-2A rocket carrying Himawari 8 will head east over the Pacific Ocean, dropping its two solid-fueled boosters, nose cone, and a cryogenic core stage in the sea before its upper stage delivers the weather observatory to an orbit stretching more than 22,000 miles above Earth.<\/p>\n

A list of the major events during the launch, set for 0620 GMT (2:20 a.m. EDT) Wednesday, is provided below.<\/p>\n

Data source: JAXA<\/strong><\/p>\n

T-00:00: Liftoff<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"With
With its LE-7A main engine and two solid rocket boosters firing, the 174-foot-tall H-2A rocket lifts off from the Yoshinobu launch complex on Tanegashima Island. A few moments later, the rocket will complete a pitch program to head east from the launch site.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+01:38: SRB-A Burnout<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The
The H-2A\u2019s two solid rocket boosters exhaust their propellant and burn out at an altitude of 28 miles (45 kilometers).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+01:48: SRB-A Jettison<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The
The two solid rocket boosters are jettisoned at an altitude of 33 miles (53 kilometers).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+04:05: Fairing Separation<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"After
After traversing the dense lower atmosphere and reaching an altitude of 88 miles (142 kilometers), the rocket releases the 4-meter (13.1-foot) diameter payload fairing protecting the Himawari 9 spacecraft during the early part of the flight.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+06:36: Main Engine Cutoff<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"After
After consuming its liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants, the LE-7A first stage main engine shuts down. The first stage and solid rocket boosters push the rocket to a velocity of nearly 11,000 mph (4.9 kilometers per second).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+06:44: Stage Separation<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The
The H-2A rocket\u2019s first stage is separated now, having completed its job. The spent stage will fall into the Pacific Ocean downrange from Tanegashima.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+06:50: Second Stage Ignition<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"With
With the first stage jettisoned, the rocket\u2019s second stage takes over. The LE-5B hydrogen-fueled engine ignites at an altitude of 140 miles (225 kilometers) to accelerate the Himawari 9 payload to orbital velocity.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+12:12: SECO 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The
The LE-5B second stage engine shuts down after reaching a parking orbit with the Himawari 9 satellite. The second stage will coast for nearly 12 minutes before restarting to boost the spacecraft into geostationary transfer orbit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+23:50: Second Stage Restart<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The
The LE-5B second stage engine reignites for a 3-minute, 17-second burn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+27:07: SECO 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The
The H-2A rocket\u2019s LE-5B second stage engine shuts down after reaching an orbit with a high point of 35,976 kilometers (22,354 miles), a low point of 250 kilometers (155 miles), and an inclination of 22.4 degrees.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+27:57: Himawari 9 Separation<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The
The 7,716-pound Himawari 8 weather satellite separates from the H-2A rocket\u2019s second stage to complete the launch. Himawari 9 is designed for an eight-year weather observation mission for the Japan Meteorological Agency.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Japan\u2019s Himawari 9 weather satellite will ride into space atop an H-2A rocket from Tanegashima Space Center and reach a preliminary geostationary transfer orbit within 28 minutes of liftoff. The 7,700-pound (3,500-kilogram) satellite will blast off from Launch Pad No. 1 at the Yoshinobu launch complex at Tanegashina Space Center, a picturesque spaceport carved on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1662,3530,3544,3545,377,3546,877,2484],"class_list":["post-15109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-h-2a","tag-h-2a-f31","tag-himawari","tag-himawari-9","tag-japan","tag-japan-meteorological-agency","tag-jaxa","tag-melco"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15109"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15109\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}