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Japan
Plans First H2A Launch for July
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Japan's National
Space Development Agency (NASDA) announced July 22 as the planned
date for the inaugural flight of its H-2A launch vehicle. The rocket
is due to liftoff from Tanegashima carrying a Vehicle Evaluation
Payload (VEP-2). The summer launch window in Tanegashima, negotiated
with local fisheries, opens on July 22 and extends to late
September. NASDA reports that all major development tests have been
completed and only three major routine tests are planned before the
launch.
A second test
flight is tentatively scheduled for December, with the first Mission
Demonstration Satellite (MDS-1) and VEP-3. The first operational
flight is scheduled in February 2002 with the second Advanced Earth
Observation Satellite (ADEOS-2) and three piggyback small
satellites: Australia's FedSat 1, Japan's Micro-LabSat 1 and Whale
Ecology Observation Satellite (WEOS).
Meanwhile,
NASDA is coordinating with the National Science Museum to preserve
the last H2 rocket. The completed rocket, whose core cost US$137
million (16 billion yen), has been left untouched since Japan
suspended the launch of the remaining H2 rocket. It has not yet been
decided where the last rocket of the eight H2 series will reside,
given that the 50 m (165 ft) tall core weighs 260 metric tones
(286.5 tons).
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