On September 14, 2013 at 05:00 UTC the "Epsilon” rocket-carrier was launched from the Uchinoura Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan. It is a new type rocket designed to make launches cheaper and more efficient. The rocket orbited the "SPRINT-А" planet- observing satellite. The satellite also has a compact telescope to peer at Mars, Venus and Jupiter and study their response to blasts of solar wind.
