JAXA’s Giant Satellite for Mobile Phones

Japan has launched live-cast for DoCoMo 3G phones, one of the world’s largest geostationary satellites, in a bid to improve mobile telephone reception in remote areas. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launched the H-2A rocket at 3:32 pm (12:02 IST) as planned after a postponement Saturday due to cloudy weather at the launch site at Tanegashima in southern Japan. The experimental satellite, which is known as Kiku Number 8, is the largest built by Japan’s space agency. It weighs about 3 tons and is 40 meters long.

“The satellite successfully separated from the rocket about 30 minutes after the launch of the rocket,” space agency spokesman Naohiko Kotake told a news conference at Tanegashima station. Kiku Number 8’s antennas, among the longest ever developed for a satellite, are its key attribute, an agency statement said. Continue>>