Japan's Solar-B spacecraft rockets into orbit to study the Sun's magnetic field.

A three-stage M-5 rocket launched Solar-B spaceward on Sept. 22 at 5:36 p.m. EDT (2136 GMT) from an Uchinoura Space Center pad on the southern edge of Kyushu Island, where it was Saturday morning at liftoff time.  

The successful liftoff kicks off a planned three-year mission to study the Sun’s magnetic field and is the result of cooperative efforts among the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), NASA and European partners.

Solar-B carries three primary instruments to examine magnetic field behavior in the Sun’s corona.

-- SPACE.com Staff

Credit: JAXA.