Japan to Launch Satellite on H-2A Rocket Early Next Year

Tokyo, Dec. 8 (Jiji Press)–Japan plans to launch a new weather satellite in January or February next year using its H-2A rocket, officials of Japan’s space agency said Wednesday.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, submitted the plan the same day to the Space Activities Commission, a government panel.

The launch will mark the Japanese rocket’s first flight since its mission last November ended disastrously. In the mission, an H-2A carrying a pair of intelligence-gathering satellites was exploded via remote control after it failed to detach a rocket booster and veered from the planned flight course.

The satellite in the planned mission will have aviation control functions as well as weather observation capabilities. If successfully released into orbit, the satellite, manufactured by Space Systems/Loral Inc. of the United States, will begin weather observation around May, JAXA officials said.END