Dnepr launches Japanese satellites
Posted: Wed, Aug 24, 2005, 12:48 PM ET (1648 GMT)
A converted Russian ICBM successfully launched two Japanese satellites late Tuesday. The Dnepr lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 5:10 pm EDT (2110 GMT) Tuesday, placing the experimental Japanese satellites into a Sun-synchronous orbit. The primary payload on the Dnepr was the Optical Inter-orbit Communications Engineering Test Satellite (OICETS), a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) experimental satellite. OICETS, renamed Kirari after launch, is designed to test laser intersatellite communications links with Artemis, an ESA spacecraft that has been in orbit for several years. Also on board the Dnepr was the Innovative Technology Demonstration Experiment Satellite (INDEX), renamed Reimei after launch. Reimei will test how a number of advanced technologies operate in space conditions, and also perform auroral observations. The launch was the fifth orbital mission for the Dnepr, a converted SS-18 ICBM, and the first since mid-2004.
A converted Russian ICBM successfully launched two Japanese satellites late Tuesday. The Dnepr lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 5:10 pm EDT (2110 GMT) Tuesday, placing the experimental Japanese satellites into a Sun-synchronous orbit. The primary payload on the Dnepr was the Optical Inter-orbit Communications Engineering Test Satellite (OICETS), a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) experimental satellite. OICETS, renamed Kirari after launch, is designed to test laser intersatellite communications links with Artemis, an ESA spacecraft that has been in orbit for several years. Also on board the Dnepr was the Innovative Technology Demonstration Experiment Satellite (INDEX), renamed Reimei after launch. Reimei will test how a number of advanced technologies operate in space conditions, and also perform auroral observations. The launch was the fifth orbital mission for the Dnepr, a converted SS-18 ICBM, and the first since mid-2004.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Space Force picks 14 companies for GEO surveillance program
Posted: Sat, Apr 11 10:34 AM ET (1434 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Friday, April 24
2026 first quarter: Future Launchers Preparatory Programme highlights
ESA — 7:18 am ET (1118 GMT) Wednesday Night SpaceX Launch Successful from Vandenberg
Santa Barbara (CA) Edhat — 7:17 am ET (1117 GMT) Space Force Budget Cuts SDA’s Data Transport Funding
Air and Space Forces Magazine — 7:16 am ET (1116 GMT) ‘No longer theoretical’: Golden Dome czar touts first steps amid skepticism
Breaking Defense — 7:16 am ET (1116 GMT) Blue Origin’s Luxembourg launch went off without a hitch
Luxembourg Times — 7:13 am ET (1113 GMT) |
