Tokyo. October 9th. INTERFAX - The launch of the Japanese Epsilon light launch vehicle, which has already been canceled twice, is planned to be carried out at the end of October, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) reported.
It will be held after the upcoming launch of the H-2A medium-class launch vehicle from the Tanegashima cosmodrome on October 25. The date has not yet been determined.
The Epsilon-5 rocket was supposed to put nine small satellites into orbit. In particular, it is equipped with the RAISE 2 device, created by Mitsubishi Electric Corp., which is designed to test several different space technologies, including measuring the position, height and speed of orbiters, and the DRUMS microsatellite, designed to test space debris collection technology in orbit.
Initially, the launch of Epsilon-5 was supposed to be launched on October 1. However, due to technical problems in the radar equipment in the mission control center, which is supposed to track the telemetry of the flight path, the launch was canceled 19 seconds before launch. The second attempt on October 7 was canceled due to strong high-altitude winds. Currently, bad weather persists in the area of the Uchinoura cosmodrome on the Japanese island of Kyushu, from where the rocket is to launch.
In this regard, JAXA decided to suspend attempts to launch Epsilon-5 and focus on preparing for the flight of a heavier H-2A rocket.
This rocket is located at the launch complex of the Tanegashima Space Center (about 96.5 km from Uchinoura).
