spacetoday.net: Weather delays launch of Japanese reconnaissance satellite

Posted: Thu, Jan 29, 2015, 8:01 AM ET (1301 GMT)
Poor weather pushed back Thursday's scheduled launch of a Japanese reconnaissance satellite until at least Sunday. An H-2A was scheduled to launch from the Tanegashima Space Center at 8:21 pm EST Wednesday (0121 GMT, 10:21 am local time Thursday) but cloudy conditions forced launch controllers to postpone the launch. The Japanese space agency JAXA said in a statement that the launch is now planned for the same time on Sunday, February 1, pending weather conditions. The rocket is carrying the latest in a series of Information Gathering Satellites used for reconnaissance by the Japanese military; this satellite will serve as a spare for existing spacecraft.