Successful Launch of QZS-2

The second Quasi-Zenith Satellite (QZS-2) in the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) being developed by the Cabinet Office was launched on the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 34 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture at 9:17:46 a.m. (Japan Standard Time) on June 1. The flight of the rocket proceeded as planned and the satellite was successfully separated 28 minutes and 21 seconds after the launch.

At the press conference held after the launch, Mr. Naohiko Abe, senior vice president, head of Integrated Defense & Space Systems, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) gave a report on the launch. Afterwards, Mr. Naoki Okumura, president, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) thanked all the people involved and said he looks forward to continual cooperation in satellite positioning development.

Next, Mr. Yosuke Tsuruho, Minister of State for Space Policy, Cabinet Office said the successful launch was “the first definite step towards making QZSS into a four-satellite constellation.” Regarding the official service start in FY2018, he stated, “I hope to steadily launch QZS-3 and QZS-4 by the end of this fiscal year.”

In the second part of the press conference, a question-and-answer session was held with Mr. Hiromichi Moriyama, QZSS director, National Space Policy Secretariat, Cabinet Office, mainly regarding technical aspects. He explained, “The latest smartphones and car navigation systems are already beginning to support QZSS signals. If signals are transmitted constantly from high locations after the service start, this will improve positioning information accuracy and offer effects we will be able to experience directly.”

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* Header/text images provided by: MHI/JAXA