Midori
H-II
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Mission
Midori
- Type: Earth Science
- Orbit: Low Earth Orbit
Primary applications of ADEOS (Advanced Earth Observation Satellite), which has been renamed Midori after reaching orbit, include monitoring global environmental changes such as maritime meteorological conditions, atmospheric ozone, and gases that promote global warming. ADEOS was also expected to play a vital role in developing more sophisticated inter-orbit communications and platform technology for the satellite of tomorrow. ADEOS was launched by H-2 Launch Vehicle No.4 on August 1996 and provided a large volume of data containing valuable information about our environment atmosphere, ocean and land for about 10 months until it suddenly got out of control on 30 June 1997 because of the structural damage in its solar array paddle.
Location
Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-1
Tanegashima Space Center, Japan
Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-1 has witnessed the launch of 56 rockets, including 56 orbital launch attempts. While Tanegashima Space Center, Japan, has been the site for 94 rocket launches.
The Tanegashima Space Center is the largest rocket-launch complex in Japan. It is located on the southeastern tip of Tanegashima, an island located south of Kyushu, an island and region and Japan. It was established in 1969 when the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) was formed, and is now run by JAXA. The activities that take place at TNSC include assembly, testing, launching, and tracking satellites, as well as rocket engine firing tests.
Rocket
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-II
The H-II rocket was a Japanese satellite launch system which flew seven times between 1994 and 1999 with 5 successes. It was developed by NASDA in order to give Japan a capability to launch larger satellites in the 1990s. It was the first two stage liquid fuelled rocket Japan made using only domestic technologies.
Agency
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is Japan's national aero-space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and the launch of satellites into orbit, and is involved in many more advanced missions, such as asteroid exploration and possible manned exploration of the Moon. JAXA launch their Epsilon vehicle from the Uchinoura Space Center and their H-II vehicles from the Tanegashima Space Center.
