NASASpaceFlight.com
  • Forums
  • L2 Sign Up
  • SLS/Orion
  • SpaceX
  • Commercial
  • ISS
  • International
    • All Chinese European Russian
      Russian

      Russia to kick start 2019 campaign with Soyuz…

      February 20, 2019

      European

      Ariane 5 launches Hellas-Sat-4/SaudiGeoSat-1 and GSAT 31

      February 5, 2019

      Featured

      Iran improving its rockets ten years after its…

      February 2, 2019

      Featured

      UK space sector on an upward trajectory after…

      January 31, 2019

      Chinese

      Long March 11 launches with four satellites

      January 21, 2019

      Chinese

      Long March 3B lofts Chinasat-2D

      January 10, 2019

      Chinese

      China lands Chang’e-4 mission on the far side…

      January 3, 2019

      Chinese

      Long March 2D concludes 2018 campaign with Hongyan-1…

      December 29, 2018

      European

      Ariane 5 launches Hellas-Sat-4/SaudiGeoSat-1 and GSAT 31

      February 5, 2019

      European

      Successful P120C test another milestone towards Arianespace’s new…

      January 29, 2019

      European

      Hera adds objectives to planetary defense test mission

      January 7, 2019

      European

      Arianespace Soyuz ST-A launches with CSO-1

      December 19, 2018

      Russian

      Russia to kick start 2019 campaign with Soyuz…

      February 20, 2019

      Russian

      Soyuz 2-1A launches Kanopus-V pair and additional payloads

      December 26, 2018

      Russian

      Proton-M successfully launches with Blagovest No.13L

      December 20, 2018

      Russian

      Soyuz MS-09 lands after unprecedented on-orbit repairs, inspections

      December 19, 2018

  • Other
    • All Shuttle Uncrewed
      Commercial

      NG-10 Cygnus tests new capabilities as part of…

      February 18, 2019

      Featured

      Beginning of the end: NASA’s Van Allen probes…

      February 14, 2019

      Commercial

      NG-10 Cygnus departs ISS after 3 month science,…

      February 8, 2019

      Commercial

      Orbex reveals Prime’s second stage as it prepares…

      February 7, 2019

      Shuttle

      Saving Hubble: Endeavour’s ambitious mission to rescue the…

      December 13, 2018

      Shuttle

      Two NASA space telescopes returning to work following…

      October 23, 2018

      Shuttle

      Thirty years after Return To Flight from Challenger,…

      September 28, 2018

      Shuttle

      Commercial Crew assignments; NASA nears goal of human…

      August 3, 2018

      Uncrewed

      Beginning of the end: NASA’s Van Allen probes…

      February 14, 2019

      Uncrewed

      NG-10 Cygnus departs ISS after 3 month science,…

      February 8, 2019

      Uncrewed

      After Kepler, exoplanet discoveries continue to inspire

      February 7, 2019

      Uncrewed

      As new lunar race heats up, the Moon…

      February 1, 2019

Popular
Russia to kick start 2019 campaign with Soyuz...
Boeing reaches milestone of firsts with forward join...
NG-10 Cygnus tests new capabilities as part of...
NASA set to purchase more Soyuz seats to...
Beginning of the end: NASA’s Van Allen probes...
NASA Stennis restarts RS-25 testing after December abort
International partners making progress on ISS funeral plans
Spaceflight notes expanding and evolving offerings as it...
NASA working to minimize shutdown impact to Springtime...
NG-10 Cygnus departs ISS after 3 month science,...

NASASpaceFlight.com

  • Forums
  • L2 Sign Up
  • SLS/Orion
  • SpaceX
  • Commercial
  • ISS
  • International
    • All Chinese European Russian
      Russian

      Russia to kick start 2019 campaign with Soyuz…

      February 20, 2019

      European

      Ariane 5 launches Hellas-Sat-4/SaudiGeoSat-1 and GSAT 31

      February 5, 2019

      Featured

      Iran improving its rockets ten years after its…

      February 2, 2019

      Featured

      UK space sector on an upward trajectory after…

      January 31, 2019

      Chinese

      Long March 11 launches with four satellites

      January 21, 2019

      Chinese

      Long March 3B lofts Chinasat-2D

      January 10, 2019

      Chinese

      China lands Chang’e-4 mission on the far side…

      January 3, 2019

      Chinese

      Long March 2D concludes 2018 campaign with Hongyan-1…

      December 29, 2018

      European

      Ariane 5 launches Hellas-Sat-4/SaudiGeoSat-1 and GSAT 31

      February 5, 2019

      European

      Successful P120C test another milestone towards Arianespace’s new…

      January 29, 2019

      European

      Hera adds objectives to planetary defense test mission

      January 7, 2019

      European

      Arianespace Soyuz ST-A launches with CSO-1

      December 19, 2018

      Russian

      Russia to kick start 2019 campaign with Soyuz…

      February 20, 2019

      Russian

      Soyuz 2-1A launches Kanopus-V pair and additional payloads

      December 26, 2018

      Russian

      Proton-M successfully launches with Blagovest No.13L

      December 20, 2018

      Russian

      Soyuz MS-09 lands after unprecedented on-orbit repairs, inspections

      December 19, 2018

  • Other
    • All Shuttle Uncrewed
      Commercial

      NG-10 Cygnus tests new capabilities as part of…

      February 18, 2019

      Featured

      Beginning of the end: NASA’s Van Allen probes…

      February 14, 2019

      Commercial

      NG-10 Cygnus departs ISS after 3 month science,…

      February 8, 2019

      Commercial

      Orbex reveals Prime’s second stage as it prepares…

      February 7, 2019

      Shuttle

      Saving Hubble: Endeavour’s ambitious mission to rescue the…

      December 13, 2018

      Shuttle

      Two NASA space telescopes returning to work following…

      October 23, 2018

      Shuttle

      Thirty years after Return To Flight from Challenger,…

      September 28, 2018

      Shuttle

      Commercial Crew assignments; NASA nears goal of human…

      August 3, 2018

      Uncrewed

      Beginning of the end: NASA’s Van Allen probes…

      February 14, 2019

      Uncrewed

      NG-10 Cygnus departs ISS after 3 month science,…

      February 8, 2019

      Uncrewed

      After Kepler, exoplanet discoveries continue to inspire

      February 7, 2019

      Uncrewed

      As new lunar race heats up, the Moon…

      February 1, 2019

Japan’s H-IIA rocket launches IGS Radar 6

written by William Graham June 11, 2018

Japan made another addition to its constellation of reconnaissance satellites with the launch of the IGS Radar 6 satellite Tuesday. Riding to orbit atop an H-IIA rocket, the satellite lifted off at the start of a thirteen-minute, 57-second window that opened at 13:20:00 local time (04:20 UTC).

The Information Gathering Satellite (IGS) program – also known as Joho Shushu Eisei (JSE) – consists of optical and radar-imaging spacecraft in low Earth orbit. The satellites are operated by Japan’s Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Centre, which conducts intelligence gathering for the Japanese military. IGS is also used to support civilian disaster management operations.

IGS Radar 6, which was built by Mitsubishi Electric, is the sixteenth IGS satellite to launch – including both the radar and optical imaging branches of the constellation. Tuesday’s launch comes a little over three months after the previous IGS satellite, Optical 6, was carried to orbit by another H-IIA rocket.

Japan began the IGS program following North Korea’s failed launch of the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1 satellite in August 1998, which saw the North Korean Paektusan rocket overfly Japan. While the launch itself was unsuccessful, it proved that North Korea was capable of firing missiles that could reach Japan, prompting a need for greater monitoring and awareness of potential threats.

See Also

  • UPDATES HII-A/IGS
  • 65 Launch Vehicle Manuals (L2)
  • Click here to Join L2

The first two satellites – one optical and one radar – were launched on the fifth flight of the H-IIA rocket in March 2003. Another pair of satellites were planned to be deployed later the same year. However, the rocket carrying them was destroyed by range safety after one of its solid rocket boosters failed to separate.

Replacement optical and radar satellites were launched separately, in September 2006 and February 2007 respectively, with the radar satellite sharing its ride to orbit with a prototype second-generation optical IGS spacecraft. The first operational second-generation satellite, IGS Optical 3, was deployed in 2009. The optical component of IGS entered its third generation in 2015 with IGS Optical 5, while the IGS Optical 6 satellite launched earlier this year was also a third-generation spacecraft.

The radar-imaging satellites currently on orbit are of the type’s second generation: the first of which, IGS Radar 3, was launched in December 2011. Subsequent radar satellites were deployed in 2013, 2015 and 2017. Japan has not announced whether the Radar 6 satellite on Tuesday’s launch is a fifth second-generation spacecraft, or the first third-generation radar mission.

IGS Radar Second Generation

Although the satellite that launched Tuesday is numbered IGS Radar 6, it is actually the eighth radar-imaging satellite in the IGS series. This discrepancy arose as the result of two satellites being numbered IGS Radar 2 – the original that was lost the 2003 launch failure and its replacement – and an unnumbered spare satellite deployed in February 2015.

Tuesday’s launch was the thirty-ninth flight of Japan’s H-IIA rocket – designated H-IIA F39. Built and operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the H-IIA was introduced in 2001 as a cheaper and more reliable version of the earlier H-II. A two-stage rocket fuelled by cryogenic propellants – liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen – the H-IIA has been a workhorse for Japan’s space program carrying varied payloads, including military, Earth science, communications and interplanetary missions, to orbit.

Depending on mission requirements, the H-IIA flies with either two or four SRB-A solid rocket boosters augmenting the first stage – two intermediate configurations, with two SRB-As and two or four Castor-4AXL boosters, were used before 2009 when upgraded SRB-A3 motors rendered them obsolete. Tuesday’s launch used two SRB-A3 motors, the most-commonly-flown configuration.

H-IIA rocket – via JAXA

The H-IIA has completed thirty-seven of its previous thirty-eight launches successfully. Its only failure was during November 2003’s launch, which resulted in the loss of the second pair of IGS satellites.

H-IIA launches take place from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the Tanegashima Space Centre. Yoshinobu consists of two launch pads – Pad 1 was built in 1993 for the H-II and subsequently modified for the H-IIA, while Pad 2 was constructed 200 meters (660 feet) to the west in the early 2000s to provide additional capacity for the H-IIA. All H-IIA missions have flown from Pad 1, while Pad 2 is now used by the larger H-IIB rocket.

Tanegashima Space Centre – via JAXA

Final integration of the H-IIA took place in the launch complex’s Vehicle Assembly Building, atop a Movable Launcher (ML). The assembly building, located about half a kilometer (0.3 miles) northwest of Launch Pad 1, serves both pads of the Yoshinobu launch complex and can integrate H-IIA and H-IIB vehicles. H-IIA F39 was rolled out to Launch Pad 1 in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Under Japanese terminology, the zero mark in the countdown is designated X-0. The first stage’s LE-7A engine ignited two or three seconds beforehand, with the SRB-A3 solid rocket motors lighting at X-0, when the rocket lifted off under the power of its main engine and twin boosters.

The SRB-A3 motors provided thrust for about 99 seconds, tailing off as they begin to deplete their fuel. About nine seconds after the boosters burn out, hydraulic actuators activated to push their spent cases away from the vehicle, reducing weight as the rocket continued its ascent.

After booster separation, the H-IIA continued to fly under the power of its first stage for a further five minutes. Towards the end of the first stage burn, the rocket’s payload fairing – which serves to protect the IGS Radar 6 satellite from the dense lower regions of Earth’s atmosphere and to preserve the rocket’s aerodynamic profile – was jettisoned. Once the rocket reaches space, the fairing is no longer required and is discarded to save weight.

H-IIA with IGS Radar 6 going through MaxQ

About six minutes and 50 seconds after liftoff, the LE-7A engine shut down, its fuel expended. Eight seconds later, the first stage separated, with second stage ignition coming six seconds after staging. Powered by an LE-5B engine, the second stage likely made a single eight-minute burn to inject IGS Radar 6 into sun-synchronous orbit. Official word of mission success came later in the day.

IGS radar satellites operate in roughly-circular orbits at an altitude of around 500 kilometers (310 miles, 270 nautical miles) and an inclination between 97.2 and 97.5 degrees. H-IIA delivered its payload close to its target orbit, with spacecraft separation occurring a few minutes after the second stage burn concludes.

Tuesday’s launch was the fourth of the year for Japan and the second for the H-IIA rocket. Japan’s next launch is currently scheduled for August or September, using an H-IIB rocket to orbit Kounotori-7, the seventh flight of an H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) to the International Space Station. Another H-IIA launch, carrying the second Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT), is also slated for later in 2018.

H-IIAIGSJAXA
1
Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
previous article
Opportunity hunkers down as dust storm descends over the intrepid little rover
next article
Next generation Russian crew vehicle enters initial testing

Related Articles

Earth’s Deep Space explorers – Global fleet hitting...

August 25, 2014

DSCOVR and Recover: SpaceX chase the cigar with...

January 16, 2015

NASA Kepler closing in on “Earth’s Analogue”

January 7, 2013

Atlas V launches NROL-35 out of Vandenberg

December 12, 2014

JAXA launch MICHIBIKI via HII-A launch vehicle

September 11, 2010

Curiosity will help humans reach Mars

February 4, 2013

Sea Launch FAILURE – explodes on launch pad/reaction

January 30, 2007

SpaceX successfully launches TESS on a mission to...

April 18, 2018

ST5 in prep for Feb launch

January 1, 2006

NASA managers discuss fragmentation risks as UARS heads...

September 17, 2011

Active Discussions

Loading activity..
Advertisement Northrop Grumman
Advertisement Brady Kenniston
Advertisement NovaTech
Tweets by NASASpaceflight
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • About Us
  • Cookie Policy
  • Advertising Info

©2005-2019 - NASASpaceflight.com

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkRead more