Japan’s space agency has aborted its mission to launch a mini-rocket for sending a satellite into orbit, as the spacecraft has stopped sending data to ground control shortly after it lifted off.
Carrying a mini Earth-observation satellite, No. 4 vehicle of the SS-520 rocket series managed to lift off Sunday at 8:33 a.m. from Uchinoura Space Center when a communications malfunction forced the abortion of the rocket’s second stage, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
Botched Launch Plan
The rocket, supposedly one of the smallest ones in the world able to launch a satellite, was lugging the3-kilogram (6.6 pounds) TRICOM-1 observation satellite.
Officials, however, aborted the mission shortly after takeoff after JAXA stopped receiving data from the rocket in an apparent communications system glitch. The rocket and its payload had a water landing off southeast Japan’s coast.
“The first stage of the rocket’s flight went as planned,” said JAXA in a statement. “However, we were unable to receive [data] from the unit as it continued the flight.”
The rocket, similar to a utility pole at 50 centimeters in diameter and 10 meters in length, stopped transmitting signals to the operations center just 20 seconds post-liftoff. It came into being as a likely transporter of mini-satellites, which enjoys growing interest in the space trade.
The TRICOM-1 satellite, on the other hand, was developed by University of Tokyo students and designed for educational communications and as an Earth observation CubeSat to transmit Earth’s surface images for around one month before it reenters the atmosphere and eventually burns up.
The satellite is equipped with five tiny cameras, communication equipment, and supposedly powered by solar cells and batteries, with an expected operational life of one to three months.
“It’s very regrettable. We’d like to determine the cause,” said JAXA associate professor Hiroto Habu, with the agency having no further plans to launch a rocket of the same size.
The Future Of SS-520
The three-stage rocket type is about a fifth the size of JAXA’s mainstay H-IIA rocket, and it is based on a two-stage model used by the agency. Its capacity is a satellite that weighs up to 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) in orbit at an altitude reaching up to 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles).
Producing and launching this slender rocket cost about 500 million yen or $4.3 million.
Shinya Matsuura, a writer who has followed rocket development, hoped Japan would not be discouraged by the failed launch, as mini-satellites continue to garner a growing demand around the world.
“All we can do is just analyze the data we got until communications were disrupted,” he said, pointing to China’s notable progress in producing rockets and urging more Japanese investment into research and development to keep up.
JAXA hoped the experiment will showcase an affordable launch concept using commercially available technology already found in smartphones and home electronics. It sought to inspire private firms keen on pushing through in space launches.
In a different part of the space-savvy world, SpaceX has been all set to launch 10 satellites of Iridium, a top mobile voice and data satellite communications firm, to low-Earth orbit.
After the Sept. 1, 2016 explosion of Elon Musk’s rocket, the company has suspended flights and was waiting for the probe to get over and obtain fresh clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration to resume. Last Jan. 6, the agency gave the license for the "Return to Flight" of the Falcon 9 mission.
