H-IIA 204 | Kiku-8
Launch Successful
L - -- : -- : -- : --
Instantaneous launch window.
Launch Window
Dec. 18, 2006, 6:32 a.m. - Dec. 18, 2006, 6:32 a.m.
Instantaneous launch window.
Dec. 18, 2006, 6:32 a.m. - Dec. 18, 2006, 6:32 a.m.
ETS-VIII (Engineering Test Satellite) is to be launched in 2006, with the main purpose of dealing with the increasing demand for digital communications, such as mobile phones and other mobile devices. The satellite, with a gross weight of around three tons and a diameter of 40 meters, has two Large Deployable Antenna Reflectors (LDAR) and two Solar Array paddles. One LDAR, about the size of a tennis court, is one of the world's largest geostationary satellites. Its size will enable direct communications with a geostationary satellite that covers all of Japan, making mobile communications more reliable. Currently under development are Large Deployable Antenna Reflectors with metal-mesh, high-power transponders, and on-board processors. The technologies used in the development of these LDARs will be applicable to other large space structures. A subscale test of the LDARs was flown as the LDREX experiment.
H-IIA (H2A) was an expendable launch system operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The liquid-fueled H-IIA rockets have been used to launch satellites into geostationary orbit, to launch a lunar orbiting spacecraft, and to launch Akatsuki, which studied the planet Venus. Launches occur at the Tanegashima Space Center.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group. MHI's products include aerospace components, air conditioners, aircraft, automotive components, forklift trucks, hydraulic equipment, machine tools, missiles, power generation equipment, printing machines, ships and space launch vehicles. Through its defense-related activities, it is the world's 23rd-largest defense contractor measured by 2011 defense revenues and the largest based in Japan.
INFO WIKISTP-S30 is a complex mission that will deliver research experiments and technology demonstrations to orbit for the DoD and contribute to future space…
A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Payload consists of two satellites for Europe's Galileo navigation system.
Amazon Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, is a mega constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit that will offer broadband internet access, thi…
The ZY-3 (Ziyuan-3, 'Resource-3') series represents China's first high-resolution, stereoscopic mapping satellites for civilian use. The second sa…
A batch of 29 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
RAISE-4 (RApid Innovative payload demonstration Satellite-4) is a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) satellite for on-orbit demonstrations of …
DEAR-5 is a commercial in-orbit payload and micro-gravity experiments hosting spacecraft developed by Chinese commercial company AZSPACE for various …