TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s space agency announced Friday a plan to launch a major upgrade to its satellite imaging system as a new flagship rocket is tested for the third time.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said an H3 rocket will be launched from the Tanegashima Space Center on an island southwest of Japan in the early afternoon of June 30, with a launch window lasting until the end of July.
The rocket will carry an Advanced Earth Observation Satellite, ALOS-4, primarily tasked with Earth observation and data collection for disaster response and mapping, as well as monitoring military activities, such as missile launches, with an infrared sensor. developed by Defense. Ministry. ALOS-4 is the successor to the current ALOS-2 and can observe a much wider area.
The launch will be H3’s third, following a failed debut in March 2023 and a successful launch on February 17. During the first attempt, the rocket’s second stage engine failed to ignite and the rocket had to be destroyed along with its main payload. , a satellite that was supposed to be ALOS-3.
During H3 No. 2’s successful test flight, it carried two commercially developed observation microsatellites and an ALOS mockup.
JAXA and its main contractor, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, have been developing the H3 as a successor to its current mainstay, the H-2A, which is expected to retire after two more flights. MHI will eventually take over production and launches of the H3 from JAXA and hopes to make it commercially viable.
Japan views a stable and commercially competitive space transportation capability as fundamental to the country’s space program and national security.
The 57-meter (187-foot) long H3 rocket is designed to carry larger payloads than the H-2A at about half its launch cost.
