An Epsilon rocket is set to send a Japanese space weather research probe into an orbit stretching more than 20,000 miles (33,000 kilometers) above Earth to investigate how the Van Allen radiation belts shrink and swell with variable solar activity.
The Exploration of Energization and Radiation in Geospace, or ERG, mission will last at least one year, collecting data on the composition, intensity and direction of particles, waves and the magnetic field inside donut-shaped bands of radiation hovering a few thousand miles above Earth.
The ERG spacecraft, weighing around 804 pounds (365 kilograms), will launch on the second flight of Japan’s Epsilon rocket. The launch will debut an upgraded version of the Epsilon with an improved second stage motor, simplified structures, a lengthened payload fairing, and a lighter power distribution system.
The rocket will blast off from the Uchinoura Space Center, a shoreline spaceport on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, heading east over the Pacific Ocean to propel the ERG satellite into a highly elliptical orbit.
The timeline below chronicles the major events during the ascent.
NASA and SpaceX have delayed the launch of the Crew Dragon “Resilience” spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center until 7:27 p.m. EST Sunday (0027 GMT Monday) to wait for improved downrange weather and sea conditions, and better onshore winds at the launch site.
Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft is preparing to release three hopping robots to land on asteroid Ryugu in the coming month, with tiny instruments scientists hope will explore the airless world’s boulder-strewn landscape and return the first images from the surface of an asteroid.
Originally expected to take off Saturday, the launch of SpaceX’s first operational Crew Dragon mission was delayed to Sunday because of expected high winds at the Kennedy Space Center and weather off-shore where the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage will attempt to land on a SpaceX droneship. The company plans to re-use the booster for the next Crew Dragon flight.