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Nine small satellites will be launched into Earth orbit atop a Japanese rocket this evening (September 30).
An Epsilon rocket is expected to take off from the Japanese space center in Uchinoura this evening during a 4-minute window that opens at 8:51 p.m. EDT (0051 GMT on October 1). If a live broadcast of the launch becomes available, Space.com will broadcast it live.
The Epsilon will carry into orbit the Rapid Innovative Payload Demonstration Satellite 2, or RAISE 2 for short, and eight Tagalong spacecraft for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
Related: The history of rockets
As its full name suggests, the 240-pound (110-kilogram) RAISE 2 is a technology demonstrator. The spacecraft, which was built by Mitsubishi Electric Corp., will test six different space technologies, including a small sensor called MARIN designed to measure the position, altitude and speed of orbiting satellites, JAXA officials said.
The other eight satellites, which were manufactured by various Japanese companies and universities, are even smaller than the 3.3 feet wide (1 meter) COLLECT 2. Four of the rideshare spacecraft weigh 8.8 pounds (4 kg) or less, and the other four tip the scales between 101 pounds and 137 pounds (46 to 62 kg). (These satellites will become weightless in orbit, of course, but they will still have mass.)
The heaviest of the tagalongs is DRUMS (“Debris Removal Unprecedented Micro-satellite”), a machine built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Once in orbit, the 2.75-foot-wide (84 centimeter) DRUM will release a small object and then capture it, demonstrating technology that could eventually help humanity clean up space debris.
This will be the fifth mission of the 78-foot-tall (24 m) Epsilon, which JAXA began developing in 2007. The solid-fuel rocket is capable of carrying payloads as heavy as 2,646 into low earth orbit. pounds (1200 kg), depending on its JAXA specification page.
Epsilon’s four previous launches – which took place in September 2013, December 2016, January 2018, and January 2019 – have all been successful.
The 2019 launch was for RAPIS 1 (“Rapid Innovative Payload Demonstration Satellite 1”), the primary payload of the first mission developed through JAXA’s innovative satellite technology demonstration program. RAISE 2 is the second mission of this program, which aims to encourage the development of innovative space technologies, in particular by universities and the private sector.
Mike Wall is the author of “The low“(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about finding alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
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