TOKYO (AP) — Japan on Sunday launched a satellite to monitor greenhouse gas emissions using its mainstay H-2A rocket, which made its final flight before it is replaced by a new flagship designed to be more cost competitive in the global space market.
The H-2A rocket successfully lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan, carrying the GOSAT-GW satellite as part of Tokyo’s effort to mitigate climate change. The satellite was released into orbit about 16 minutes later.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which operates the rocket launch, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, will hold a news conference later Sunday to give further details of the flight.
Sunday’s launch marked the 50th and final flight for the H-2A, which has served as Japan’s mainstay rocket to carry satellites and probes into space with a near-perfect record since its 2001 debut. After its retirement, it will be fully replaced by the H3, which is already in operation, as Japan’s new main flagship.
The launch follows several days of delays because of malfunctioning of the rocket’s electrical systems.
The GOSAT-GW, or Global Observing SATellite for Greenhouse gases and Water cycle, is a third series in the mission to monitor carbon, methane and other greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. It will start distributing data in about one year, officials said.
The liquid-fuel H-2A rocket with two solid-fuel sub-rockets developed by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has so far had 49 flights with a 98% success record, with only one failure in 2003. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has provided its launch operation since 2007.
H-2A successfully carried into space Japan’s moon lander SLIM last year, and a popular Hayabusa2 spacecraft in 2014 to reach a distant asteroid, contributing to the country’s space programs.
Japan sees a stable, commercially competitive space transport capability as key to its space program and national security, and has been developing two new flagship rockets as successors of the H-2A series — the larger H3 with Mitsubishi, and a much smaller Epsilon system with the aerospace unit of the heavy machinery maker IHI. It hopes to cater to diverse customer needs and improve its position in the growing satellite launch market.
The H3, is designed to carry larger payloads than the H-2A at about half its launch cost to be globally competitive, though officials say more cost reduction efforts are needed to achieve better price competitiveness in the global market.
The H3 has made four consecutive successful flights after a failed debut attempt in 2023, when the rocket had to be destroyed with its payload.
