The National Space Development Agency of Japan on Saturday put on public display a data relay satellite that will be launched in September.
The data relay test satellite (DRTS) was unveiled at the agency's Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture. The box-like satellite, 2.2 meters square, is equipped with a communications antenna and other devices.
The DRTS will measure around 17 meters in length when its solar battery wing panels are deployed. The satellite, along with an unmanned laboratory system, will be carried into space by the No. 3 HIIA rocket.
The DRTS will be placed in geostationary orbit 36,000 km above the Indian Ocean. It will relay data to Japan from the international space station and other satellites orbiting below it.
The DRTS is expected to extend the time of real-time data transmissions from the satellites to about 60 percent of the time required to circle the Earth and increase data-transmission speeds. Currently, satellites in lower orbits can only transmit real-time data 4 percent of the time.
The DRTS cost 32 billion yen to develop and is expected to be in operation for seven years.
