JAXA H-IIA 204 Kiku-8
H-IIA 204
Status
Success
Date
18 DEC 2006
06:32
Launch Provider
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Launch Pad
Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-1
Tanegashima Space Center, Japan
Mission Overview
ETS-VIII (Engineering Test Satellite) is to be launched in 2006, with the main purpose of dealing with the increasing demand for digital communications, such as mobile phones and other mobile devices. The satellite, with a gross weight of around three tons and a diameter of 40 meters, has two Large Deployable Antenna Reflectors (LDAR) and two Solar Array paddles. One LDAR, about the size of a tennis court, is one of the world's largest geostationary satellites. Its size will enable direct communications with a geostationary satellite that covers all of Japan, making mobile communications more reliable. Currently under development are Large Deployable Antenna Reflectors with metal-mesh, high-power transponders, and on-board processors. The technologies used in the development of these LDARs will be applicable to other large space structures. A subscale test of the LDARs was flown as the LDREX experiment.
Rocket
H-IIA 204
Mission Type
Communications
Orbit
Geostationary Transfer Orbit
Stages
2
Livestream
Not availableRocket Details
H-IIA (H2A) was an expendable launch system operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The liquid-fueled H-IIA rockets have been used to launch satellites into geostationary orbit, to launch a lunar orbiting spacecraft, and to launch Akatsuki, which studied the planet Venus. Launches occur at the Tanegashima Space Center.
Height
53 m
Diameter
4 m
Launch Mass
445 T
Thrust
2,260 kN