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H-IIA 204 | Kiku-8
Japan Aerospace Exploration AgencyLaunch Successful

Kiku-8

H-IIA 204

Historical mission record

This page records H-IIA 204 | Kiku-8 and its reported outcome: Launch Successful. The date above is a historical record.

Source record updated . This is a source update, not a confirmed launch time.

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Mission status
Launch Successful

Status reported by the mission data provider.

LAUNCH SITETanegashima Space Center, Japan

Mission

ETS-VIII (Engineering Test Satellite) is to be launched in 2006, with the main purpose of dealing with the increasing demand for digital communications, such as mobile phones and other mobile devices. The satellite, with a gross weight of around three tons and a diameter of 40 meters, has two Large Deployable Antenna Reflectors (LDAR) and two Solar Array paddles. One LDAR, about the size of a tennis court, is one of the world's largest geostationary satellites. Its size will enable direct communications with a geostationary satellite that covers all of Japan, making mobile communications more reliable. Currently under development are Large Deployable Antenna Reflectors with metal-mesh, high-power transponders, and on-board processors. The technologies used in the development of these LDARs will be applicable to other large space structures. A subscale test of the LDARs was flown as the LDREX experiment.

Launch vehicle
H-IIA 204
Mission type
Communications
Destination orbit
Geostationary Transfer Orbit
Launch pad
Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-1
Provider
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

The vehicle

Published configuration and flight history.

H-IIA 204
JAXA
Launch vehicle

H-IIA 204

H-IIA (H2A) was an expendable launch system operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The liquid-fueled H-IIA rockets have been used to launch satellites into geostationary orbit, to launch a lunar orbiting spacecraft, and to launch Akatsuki, which studied the planet Venus. Launches occur at the Tanegashima Space Center.

Height
53 m
Diameter
4 m
Stages
2
Recorded launches
5
First flight
2006-12-18

Recorded timing

This is a mission record, not an upcoming calendar appointment.

Instantaneous windowPublished target
SCHEDULED MOMENT

A single scheduled moment. The schedule may change before launch.

Launch site & orbit

Tanegashima Space Center, Japan

The mission in perspective

Launch site & orbit

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NASA Blue Marble map of Earth's continents and oceans
Representative orbit · accelerated illustrationNo live tracking or simulated ascent. NASA Blue Marble.

Coverage & sources

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Mission coverage

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