By Xinhua
Tokyo : Japan Friday launched an H-2A rocket carrying the Selenological and Engineering Explorer, the country’s first lunar probe satellite, from the Tanegashima Space Centre in southern Kagoshima prefecture.
The rocket, which is named Kaguya after an ancient Japanese fable, lifted off as scheduled at 10.31 a.m. from the centre on the Pacific off Japan’s southern Kyushu island. The satellite and the launch vehicle successfully separated at 11.16 a.m.
Kaguya, which consists of a three-tonne main orbiter and two 50 kg sub-satellites, is equipped with 14 scientific instruments and a high-definition television camera, according to the agency.
The rocket was made by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. This is the first time the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has entered into a contract with a company for the construction and launch of a rocket in order to reduce costs and boost Japan’s international competitiveness in the space business, Kyodo News said.
Kaguya will be the highest performing lunar probe satellite and start the world’s first full-scale mission to explore the moon since the US Apollo programme, Kyodo quoted agency officials as saying.
Under the 55 billion yen ($480 million) project, the satellite is to begin its 10-month mission around December, collecting lunar features related to the origin and evolution of the moon.
Kaguya’s originally planned launch was in August, when the faulty instalment of two components postponed the schedule.