On October 07, 2014 at 05:16 UTC the Japanese H-2A rocket-carrier 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 “Himawari-8” next-generation geostationary meteorological satellite. Himawari-8 is expected to further support and improve meteorological services in a variety of fields such as weather forecasting, climate monitoring, natural disaster prevention and safe transportation. Built by Mitsubishi Electric Corp., the “Himawari-8” weighs about 3,500 kg.
