IronRain
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Seven small satellites launched aboard a Japanese Epsilon rocket Friday, including a diverse suite of tech demo payloads and a spacecraft designed to create an artificial meteor shower next year that developers say should be visible with the naked eye.
The successful launch Friday also debuted a new multi-payload carrying capability for the Epsilon rocket, a light-class, solid-fueled launcher developed in partnership between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency — JAXA — and prime contractor IHI Aerospace.
The 85-foot-tall (26-meter) Epsilon rocket lifted off from the Uchinoura Space Center, located in Kagoshima prefecture on the island of Kyushu in southwestern Japan, at 0050:20 GMT Friday (9:50:20 a.m. Japan Standard Time; 7:50:20 p.m. EST Thursday).
Generating a half-million pounds of thrust, the Epsilon’s first stage propelled the rocket on an initial course southeast from Uchinoura, powering the launcher into a clear morning sky over the Pacific Ocean on a trajectory to steer clear of islands downrange. The first stage consumed its pre-packed propellant less than two minutes after liftoff, then jettisoned soon after, giving way to solid-fueled second and third stage motors as the Epsilon turned toward the south.
A fourth stage, called the Post Boost Stage, ignited with hydrazine-fueled thrusters two times to place the mission’s satellite payloads into a targeted orbit around 310 miles (500 kilometers) above Earth at an inclination of around 97.2 degrees to the equator.
The upper stage released the largest of the seven satellites, named RAPIS 1, around 52 minutes after liftoff.
Sources:
- https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/01/18/japans-epsilon-rocket-launches-seven-tech-demo-satellites/
The successful launch Friday also debuted a new multi-payload carrying capability for the Epsilon rocket, a light-class, solid-fueled launcher developed in partnership between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency — JAXA — and prime contractor IHI Aerospace.
The 85-foot-tall (26-meter) Epsilon rocket lifted off from the Uchinoura Space Center, located in Kagoshima prefecture on the island of Kyushu in southwestern Japan, at 0050:20 GMT Friday (9:50:20 a.m. Japan Standard Time; 7:50:20 p.m. EST Thursday).
Generating a half-million pounds of thrust, the Epsilon’s first stage propelled the rocket on an initial course southeast from Uchinoura, powering the launcher into a clear morning sky over the Pacific Ocean on a trajectory to steer clear of islands downrange. The first stage consumed its pre-packed propellant less than two minutes after liftoff, then jettisoned soon after, giving way to solid-fueled second and third stage motors as the Epsilon turned toward the south.
A fourth stage, called the Post Boost Stage, ignited with hydrazine-fueled thrusters two times to place the mission’s satellite payloads into a targeted orbit around 310 miles (500 kilometers) above Earth at an inclination of around 97.2 degrees to the equator.
The upper stage released the largest of the seven satellites, named RAPIS 1, around 52 minutes after liftoff.
Sources:
- https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/01/18/japans-epsilon-rocket-launches-seven-tech-demo-satellites/
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