JAXA

Japanese navigation craft successfully delivered to orbit

June 1, 2017 Stephen Clark

Japan deployed the first of three navigation satellites it intends to launch in the next year Thursday, sending a 4.4-ton spacecraft on the way to an high-altitude orbital perch on top of an H-2A rocket to improve positioning data for drivers, hikers and government agencies in East Asia.

Photos: Japan’s H-2A rocket prepared for launch with Michibiki 2

May 31, 2017 Stephen Clark

The second satellite in Japan’s regional space-based navigation constellation is set for launch Thursday aboard an H-2A rocket, and these photos show the hydrogen-fueled launcher’s preparations for liftoff, from stacking inside an assembly hangar at the Tanegashima Space Center through rollout to the launch pad.

Japanese rocket scheduled for launch with navigation satellite

May 30, 2017 Stephen Clark

A Japanese H-2A rocket is set for launch Thursday with the country’s second navigation satellite, growing a network of beacons in the sky to give emergency responders, security forces and the public more accurate positioning and timing signals in Japan and neighboring regions.

H-2A rocket launches with Japanese radar reconnaissance craft

March 17, 2017 Stephen Clark

A Japanese spy satellite launched aboard an H-2A rocket Friday, heading for a 300-mile-high orbit to track North Korean and Chinese military movements as tensions run high in the region.

Poor weather forecast delays Japanese spy satellite launch

March 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

Japanese officials have delayed the launch of a government-owned reconnaissance satellite until at least Friday, local time, because of bad weather predicted over the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan.

Japanese cargo ship ends mission after space debris experiment flounders

February 6, 2017 Stephen Clark

Japan’s HTV supply ship fell to Earth on Sunday more than a week after leaving the International Space Station, burning up in the atmosphere after officials gave up on an experiment looking into ways to remove space junk from orbit.

Japanese cargo craft departs space station

January 27, 2017 Stephen Clark

Japan’s sixth HTV supply ship departed the International Space Station on Friday and headed for a destructive re-entry over the South Pacific with trash and disused batteries from the research lab, but engineers will first use the spacecraft for a pioneering experiment to investigate a new way to remove space junk from orbit.