Tag: Japanese

Japanese Successfully Launches Lunar Landing, Space Telescope Mission

The Washington Post reports Japan launched a “lunar mission on Thursday, overcoming multiple failures and delays to become the fifth country to head to the moon just weeks after India in a global race to better understand the Earth’s closest neighbor.” The Japanese H2-A rocket is scheduled “to enter the moon’s orbit in three to four months and land early next year,” and carries “two space missions: a new X-ray telescope and a lightweight high-precision moon lander that will serve as the basis for future moon landing technology.” The reputation of “Japan’s space program was on the line with the launch on Thursday,” and Japan’s performance is described as “important for its national security strategy in space, developed with an eye on advancements by China and Russia.”
Full Story (Washington Post)

Video

Japan Lunar Lander SLIM + XRISM Launch, September 6, 2023
(The Launch Pad; YouTube)

SpaceX Targeting December 11 for Japanese Moon Lander Launch

SPACE reports that SpaceX is “now targeting Sunday (Dec. 11) for the launch of a private Japanese moon lander after a series of delays.” If all goes according to plan, a Falcon 9 rocket “will launch the Tokyo-based company ispace’s Hakuto-R lander toward the moon on Sunday at 2:38 a.m. EST (0738 GMT), SpaceX announced today.” Sunday will be “a big day for space fans: NASA’s Orion capsule is scheduled to return to Earth that afternoon, wrapping up the agency’s Artemis 1 moon mission.” The coming SpaceX flight, “which will kick off ispace’s Mission 1, was originally supposed to get off the ground last month. It has been pushed back several times, however, so SpaceX could perform additional checks on the Falcon 9.” The company said “in today’s update that the Falcon 9 and the Hakuto-R lander, which is also carrying a small United Arab Emirates moon rover, are both ‘looking good for launch’ no earlier than Sunday.”
Full Story (SPACE)

Japanese Airlines Make Use of Predictive Maintenance Platforms

Aviation Week reports that Japanese airlines such as All Nippon Airways (ANA) operate a mix of Boeing and Airbus jets. However, due to the advanced age and smaller number of Airbus aircraft in the fleet, the carrier does not use Airbus’s Skywise predictive maintenance program. Instead, ANA utilizes The Boeing Company’s predictive tools including Airplane Health Monitoring, Self-Service Analytics and Insight Accelerator.
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Rocket Lab Electron Rocket Launches Private Japanese Earth-observing Satellite

SPACE reports, “Rocket Lab launched an Earth-observing satellite for the Japanese company iQPS early Saturday morning (May 17). An Electron rocket lifted off from Rocket Lab’s New Zealand site on Saturday at 4:17 a.m. EDT (0817 GMT; 8:17 p.m. local New Zealand time).”
Full Story (SPACE)

Video

Rocket Lab electron rocket launches private Japanese Earth-observing satellite. (Launch occurs at 19:29)
(Rocket Lab; YouTube)