TOKYO (AP) — Japan has deployed an upgraded Earth observation satellite for disaster relief and security after launching it Monday with a new flagship H3 rocket.
The H3 No. 3 rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center on a southwestern Japanese island and released its payload about 16 minutes later as planned, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said during a livestream.
The Advanced Land Observation Satellite, or ALOS-4, is primarily responsible for Earth observation and data collection for disaster response and mapping. It is also able to monitor military activities, such as missile launches, with an infrared sensor developed by the Ministry of Defense.
The rocket appeared to fly as planned, and JAXA is expected to provide more details at a press conference later Monday. The launch was originally scheduled for Sunday, but was postponed due to bad weather at the launch site.
The ALOS-4 is a successor to the current ALOS-2 and can observe a much larger area. Japan will operate both for the time being.
The launch was the third of the H3 system, after the successful on February 17. and the shocking failed debut flight a year earlier when the rocket had to be destroyed with its payload – a satellite that was supposed to be ALOS-3.
Japan views a stable, commercially competitive space transportation capability as essential to its space program and national security.
JAXA and its prime contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries developed the H3 launch system as a successor to its current mainstay, H-2A, which is being retired after another two flights. MHI will eventually take over H3 production and launches from JAXA and hopes to make it commercially viable by reducing launch costs to about half that of the H-2A.
