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NASDA reports malfunctions in H-2A rocket test
By Kyodo News Service
posted: 04:00 pm ET
26 August 2002
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Engineers from the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) moved the nation's third H-2A rocket to its launch pad at the Tanegashima space center on Monday and the prelaunch countdown stopped twice during a final check of the launch sequence Engineers from the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) moved the nation's third H-2A rocket to its launch pad at the Tanegashima space center on Monday and the prelaunch countdown stopped twice during a final check of the launch sequence. NASDA officials said the technical hitches -- a malfunctioning automated control device and a balking fuel sensor -- will be fixed and would not affect the schedule of the launch, which has been slated for Sept. 10. NASDA engineers struggling with the technical hiccups took eight and a half hours longer to complete the system check, officials said. The operation Monday involved running an extreme low temperature test on the rocket by pumping liquefied hydrogen and oxygen fuel into the rocket's fuel tanks. NASDA engineers reported three malfunctions, including a device that controls the valves of the fuel system and a sensor that measures the vibration of the liquefied fuel. The prelaunch countdown stopped twice as a result, officials said. NASDA officials said the domestically developed H-2A rocket to be launched on Sept. 10 is identical to the No. 2 rocket. Standing 57 meters tall, the H-2A features two solid-fuel booster engines and four auxiliary solid-fuel engines. While the first two H-2A rockets were launched on an experimental basis, the third H-2A will be used to launch two satellites -- a data relay satellite and an unmanned space experiment recovery system (USERS). The data relay satellite, known technically by its acronym DRTS, or data relay test satellite, is designed to relay data to Japan from the International Space Station and other satellites orbiting below it.
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