JAXA – Page 16 – Spaceflight Now

Japanese weather observatory successfully boosted into orbit

November 2, 2016 Stephen Clark

A nearly four-ton satellite fitted with a modernized camera to collect more timely images of typhoons and severe weather bolted away from a seaside launch pad in southern Japan on Wednesday, riding an H-2A rocket on the way to an orbital perch more than 22,000 miles above Earth.

Key events during the H-2A rocket launch with Himawari 9

November 1, 2016 Stephen Clark

Japan’s Himawari 9 weather satellite will ride into space atop an H-2A rocket from Tanegashima Space Center and reach a preliminary geostationary transfer orbit within 28 minutes of liftoff.

Live coverage: H-2A rocket blasts off with latest Japanese weather satellite

November 1, 2016 Stephen Clark

A Japanese H-2A rocket launched from Tanegashima Island on Wednesday with the Himawari 9 weather observatory bound for a perch more than 22,000 miles above Earth to improve forecasting in the Asia-Pacific. Liftoff of the 17-story rocket from southern Japan occurred at 0620 GMT (2:20 a.m. EDT) Wednesday.

H-2A rocket rolls to launch pad with Japanese weather satellite

November 1, 2016 Stephen Clark

A sophisticated new Japanese weather satellite will ride an H-2A rocket into orbit Wednesday to start a 15-year mission tracking cyclones and helping meteorologists predict storm movements across the Asia-Pacific and Australia.

Photos: Soyuz lands in Kazakhstan with U.S.-Russian-Japanese crew

October 31, 2016 Stephen Clark

An on-target touchdown in Kazakhstan punctuated a 115-day space mission for Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin, Japanese flight engineer Takuya Onishi and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins this weekend. Photographers recorded the moment with these vivid photos.

International space crew wraps up nearly four months in orbit

October 30, 2016 William Harwood

A veteran Russian cosmonaut, a Japanese flight engineer and a NASA scientist-astronaut undocked from the International Space Station and returned to Earth Saturday, landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan to close out a 115-day mission.

Live coverage: Space station crew home after 115-day mission

October 29, 2016 Stephen Clark

Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin, Japanese flight engineer Takuya Onishi and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins departed the International Space Station on Saturday and headed for a homecoming in Kazakhstan to wrap up a 115-day expedition in orbit. Undocking occurred at 8:35 p.m. EDT Saturday (0035 GMT Sunday), with an on-target landing more than three hours later at 11:58 p.m. EDT (0358 GMT).

Station crew preps for Saturday return to Earth

October 28, 2016 William Harwood

In a rapid-fire crew rotation, a NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts are packing up for the trip back to Earth Saturday, leaving the International Space Station just eight days after the arrival of another three-person crew and three weeks before their own replacements arrive to boost the lab’s crew back to six.

Station cargo ship delays clear way for needed spacewalk

August 10, 2016 William Harwood

The Japanese space agency has delayed the planned Sept. 30 launch of an HTV space station cargo ship to repair a leak in the vehicle, clearing the way for Orbital ATK to slip the launch of its Cygnus supply ship from Aug. 22 to the second half of September to complete tests and analysis of its re-engined Antares rocket, officials said Wednesday.

Japan’s sixth HTV cargo mission slated for Sept. 30 launch

July 27, 2016 Stephen Clark

Japan’s space agency has set Sept. 30 as the target launch date for the country’s sixth resupply mission to the International Space Station, carrying cargo, experiments and six lithium-ion batteries to kick off a major upgrade of the lab’s electrical system.