On February 27, 2014at 18:37 UTC the H-2A (202) F-23 rocket-carrier was launched from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The rocket orbited the GPM-C (Global Precipitation Mission-Core) meteorological satellite. The 3850-kg satellite will be used to measure global rain and snowfall, filling coverage gaps and anchoring an international orbital network to supply scientists and forecasters a radar-like snapshot of global precipitation every three hours.

The same rocket also orbited the following Japanese microsatellites: ShindaiSat (Ginrei) – 35 kg; STARS-2 (Space Tethered Autonomous Robotic Satellite-2) [Kukai]; Teikyosat-3 (Microbial Observation Satellite) – 20 kg; ITF-1 (Imagine The Future-1) [Yui] – 1 kg; OPUSat (Osaka Prefecture University Satellite) – 1,4 kg; INVADER (Interactive satellite for Art and Design Experimental Research) – 1,5 kg; K-SAT 2 (Kagoshima Satellite 2) [Hayato-2] – 1,5 kg.