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Rockot Launches Japanese Research Satellite
By Jim Banke
Senior Producer,
posted: 05:00 pm ET
30 October 2003
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A Japanese technology research satellite known as SERVIS-1 was launched into polar orbit over Earth on Thursday, carried into space by a Russian Rockot booster. Liftoff was at 8:43 a.m. EST (1343 GMT) from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The launch was delayed one day due to high winds but there were no problems reported on Thursday. SERVIS-1 is an acronym for the first "Space Environment Reliability Verification Integrated System" mission. Experiments on the spacecraft will test ways in which off-the-shelf technology can be used when exposed to the space environment. The Rockot booster is operated by Eurockot, a joint Russian and German company whose booster is based on decommisioned SS-19 missiles that once were employed by the Soviet Union.According to Eurockot, the company has plans for two launches in 2004 so far. They include the European Space Agency's CryoSat and the Korean Aerospace Research Institute's KOMPSAT-2. The company said it is bidding on several more contracts that will be announced later this year. More from SPACE.com:
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