Japan flagship rocket successfully lifts off after earlier failure
AFP | Tokyo
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Japan’s flagship H3 rocket successfully blasted off yesterday, live footage showed, months after its previous mission to put a geolocation satellite into orbit ended in failure.
The H3 was developed to boost the international competitiveness of Japan’s rocket industry, and the country’s space agency has come under pressure to increase the success rate of launches.
The rocket has been mooted as a rival to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, and could one day deliver cargo to bases on the Moon.
Yesterday, the rocket -- which was carrying six small satellites -- lifted off at 9:53am local time from Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan.
“The second-stage combustion, action control and trajectory are all normal,” the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) said in a live YouTube broadcast, about six minutes after blast-off.
The satellites loaded onto the rocket included Tokyo University of Science’s “Umitsubame”, which observes the Earth and other targets with a high-performance camera, and Shizuoka University’s “Shiraito”, which is testing space debris capture technology, according to Jaxa.
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