TANEGASHIMA ISLAND, Kagoshima Pref. (Kyodo) An H-IIA rocket successfully delivered into orbit on Saturday a satellite for weather observation and air traffic control.
The rocket lifted off at 3:27 p.m., one minute behind the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's original plan, from the launch pad on Tanegashima Island off the southern tip of Kyushu. It put the satellite into orbit shortly before 4 p.m.
The ninth liftoff of an H-IIA launch vehicle was delayed to avoid a possible collision between the vehicle or its parts and the International Space Station orbiting the Earth, scientists said.
It was the first time H-IIAs have been launched successfully within a one-month span. On Jan. 24, the space agency successfully launched a land-observation satellite. That launch came after a lapse of nearly a year.
The satellite carried into space Saturday, officially called the Multifunctional Transport Satellite 2 (MTSAT-2), was expected to reach geostationary orbit about 36,000 km above the equator in 5 1/2 days. It weighs in at 4.7 tons, making it one of the heaviest satellites Japan has so far launched.
The MTSAT-2 will be a backup for the MTSAT-1, which was put into orbit in February 2005. The MTSAT-1 was later named the Himawari-6. Himawari means sunflower.
The Himawari-6's mission is scheduled to end in 2010, according to the satellite's operator, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry.
The ministry also plans to use the MTSAT-2 as an air traffic control satellite. The MTSAT-2 and Himawari-6 satellites will be part of a safer air traffic control system that can cope with an increase in civil aviation flights in the Asia-Pacific region.
