KAGOSHIMA, Jan 12 (News On Japan) - A rocket carrying a Japanese government optical information-gathering satellite was successfully launched from Tanegashima Space Center, Kagoshima Prefecture, on Friday afternoon at 1:44 PM.
Live footage showed the separation of twin rocket boosters about a minute after launch, on schedule.
Optical Satellite No. 8 successfully separated from H2A Rocket No. 48 approximately 20 minutes after launch, marking the mission as a success.
With this launch, the H2A Rocket program has completed 42 consecutive missions, achieving an impressive 97.92% mission success rate.