April 30, 2024

9 satellites launching on Japanese rocket tonight

The Epsilon will haul to orbit for JAXA the Rapid Innovative Payload Demonstration Satellite 2, or RAISE 2 for short, and 8 tagalong spacecraft.Related: The history of rocketsJapans Epsilon rocket launches on its debut mission from Uchinoura Space Center on Sept. 14, 2013 carrying the SPRINT-A (Hisaki) area telescope, a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency satellite designed to study the planets of the solar system from Earth orbit. The spacecraft, which was developed by Mitsubishi Electric Corp., will check 6 various area technologies, including a small sensor called MARIN created to determine the position, altitude and speed of orbiting satellites, JAXA officials said.The other eight satellites, which were produced by a variety of Japanese business and universities, are even smaller sized than the 3.3-foot-wide (1 meter) RAISE 2. The 2019 launch lofted RAPIS 1 (” Rapid Innovative Payload Demonstration Satellite 1″), the primary payload on the first mission developed via JAXAs Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program.