Japan Launches H-IIA Rocket

The National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) launched the
Advanced Earth Observing Satellite-II (ADEOS-II) by H-IIA Launch
Vehicle No. 4 (H-IIA F4) at 10:31 a.m. on December 14, 2002
(Japan Standard Time) from the Tanegashima Space Center.

The initial azimuth of H-IIA F4 was 122 degrees.
H-IIA F4 flight went normally, and it was confirmed that ADEOS-II was
successfully separated in 16 minutes and 31 seconds after liftoff.

The Kourou Tracking Station of the Center National d’Etudes Spatiales
(CNES) in French Guiana started receiving signals from ADEOS-II
at 11:33 a.m. and confirmed that the solar array paddle deployment
through the signals.
ADEOS-II is nicknamed ‘Midori II’.

NASDA would like to express our sincere appreciation for cooperation
and support of all related people and organizations for the launch
of H-IIA F4.

For your information, the weather at the time of launch was sunny,
the wind was 3.7m/sec (north-east), and the temperature was 14.6
degrees in Celsius.

Launching Information on web site : Count Down
http://h2a.nasda.go.jp/index_e.html