On December 23, 2017 at 01:26 UTC the Japanese H-2A rocket was launched from Tanegashima Cosmodrome situated at the island located 115 km south of Kyushu. Kyushu is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. The rocket orbited the “Shikisai” (GCOM-C, Global Change Observation Mission) meteorological satellite and the “Tsubame” (SLATS, Supper Low Altitude Test Satellite) experimental satellite.