Akari, formerly Japan’s ASTRO-F infrared space telescope, launches toward space atop its M-5 rocket on Feb. 21 EST.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the observatory at 4:28 p.m. EST (2128 GMT) from Uchinoura Space Center in the country’s Kagoshima district. The 2,098-pound (952-kilogram) Akari, which means ‘Light’, is expected to conduct a complete survey of the sky in the infrared region of the light spectrum and study objects that would otherwise be obscured to visible observations.

Akari – the observatory was renamed once it reached space – is JAXA’s first dedicated infrared observatory and is part of a joint mission with researchers in Korea and Europe. The spacecraft is expected to orbit the Earth in a polar orientation and an altitude of about 462 miles (745 kilometers) during its 550-day mission.

• Japan Launches New Observatory for Infrared Sky Survey

-- Tariq Malik

Credit: JAXA.