Tokyo
JAPAN鈥檚 heavy-lifting rocket, the H-2, completed its fourth successful
launch last week. After the failures of European and Chinese launches earlier
this year, the H-2 is beginning to look more and more like a commercial
prospect.
In June, commercial confidence in Ariane 5, Europe鈥檚 heavy launcher, was
severely dented when it blew up and destroyed four satellites. In February,
China鈥檚 Long March 3B heavy launcher exploded seconds after liftoff, killing
six people. Earlier this month another Long March rocket did succeed in
launching a telecommunications satellite, but the booster rockets shut down
prematurely, leaving the satellite in a low orbit.
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Japan鈥檚 Rocket Systems Corporation says it is on the point of signing a deal
with the Hughes Corporation in the US to launch 10 satellites, cutting the H-2鈥檚
launch costs in half.
However, last week鈥檚 launch was marred by a technical hitch. The payload was
the 拢500 million Advanced Earth Observing satellite, which carries
American and French instruments as well as Japanese ones. One of four boosters
on the 3.6-tonne satellite did not fire, leaving it slightly off its intended
orbit, 800 kilometres above the Earth.
Nevertheless, scientists at Japan鈥檚 National Space Development Agency were
able to use the satellite鈥檚 backup system to manoeuvre the spacecraft into its
correct orbit. The satellite carries a number of instruments designed to monitor
the planet鈥檚 changing conditions.
