Japanese Rocket Lifts Off into Orbit ; Successful Launch Comes After Failure
Posted on: Monday, 28 February 2005, 18:00 CST
TANEGASHIMA, Japan Fifteen months after a liftoff ended in a spectacular fireball, a Japanese rocket roared off its launch pad and placed a satellite in orbit Saturday, putting Japan back in the race with rival China to become Asia's leading space power.
Domestically designed and built, the 174-foot-tall H-2A rocket is the centerpiece of Japan's space program. Saturday's liftoff into a cloudy sunset from this remote southern Japan island was a breakthrough for the relatively low-budget program.
Japan was the fourth country to launch a satellite, in 1972, and along with a major lunar exploration mission in the works now has a probe on its way to collect and retrieve samples from an asteroid a mission that, if successful, would be a first.
But the midair explosion of an H-2A launched in November 2003 put Japan's space plans on hold. Controllers had to detonate that rocket and its payload of two spy satellites after a booster failed to detach.
That setback came just a month after China successfully launched its first astronaut into orbit. Beijing has since announced it is aiming for the moon.
North Korea, meanwhile, has perhaps had an even deeper impact on Japan's space program in recent years.
The perceived nuclear threat from North Korea, which launched a Taepodong 1 missile over Japan's main island in 1998, has provided a strong impetus for Tokyo to beef up its space capabilities.
In a departure from its peaceful space policy, Japan launched its first spy satellites months before the 2003 failure as part of a $2 billion surveillance program.
Another set of spy satellites is now awaiting launch, though a date has not been set.
The program, while controversial in Japan and strongly condemned by Pyongyang, is not technically a military one. It is not paid for with military funds, and officials say it poses no threat to North Korea or any other nation.
Source: Columbian
Related Articles
- South Korea Launches Satellite that Can Spy on North
- Japan Hopes Launch Revives Space Program
- Japan to Launch Satellite Into Orbit
- Japan to Launch Satellite on H-2A Rocket Early Next Year
- Japan Planning to Launch Spy Satellites
- Another Failure for the Japanese Space Program
- Failure Casts Doubt on Japan's Space Program
- Japan prepares to launch second set of spy satellites
- Japan's Space Shuttle Crashes During Test
- Japan's Space Shuttle Crash Lands in Test
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds