Exhibition of the QZS-4

The completed fourth Quasi-Zenith Satellite (QZS-4) was exhibited to members of the press on August 8 at Mitsubishi Electric Corporation’s Kamakura Works (Kamakura City, Kanagawa).
QZS-4 has the same frame as QZS-2, which was launched on June 1. It is 6.5 meters tall and 2.8 meters wide. When deployed, the solar array wings have a diameter of 19 meters.

Mr. Takizawa of the Cabinet Office

At the press briefing held on the same day, Mr. Go Takizawa, executive director, QZSS Strategy Office, National Space Policy Secretariat, Cabinet Office described the current state of QZS-1 and QZS-2 (which are currently in orbit) and preparations to launch QZS-3, and gave an overview of QZS-4. He introduced applications in fields such as i-Construction, automated driving support, and Electronic Road Pricing (ERP), explaining, “The four-satellite constellation will provide a foundation for the world’s first Centimeter Level Augmentation Service (CLAS).”

Mr. Okamoto of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

Next, Mr. Takeshi Okamoto (Executive Director, Quasi-Zenith Satellite System Project, Kamakura Works, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation) gave an overview of the QZS-4 frame, including comparisons with QZS-1. The dry weight (without propellant for trajectory control) of the frame is approximately 1.6 tons, and QZS-4 has a launch mass of approximately four tons. He emphasized that the DS2000, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation’s standard satellite platform, is a highly reliable satellite bus that has been operated for a total of 68 years with 11 satellites in orbit.

Just like QZS-2, the QZS-4 will use the H2A202 launch vehicle with two solid rocket boosters (SRB-A) on each side of the core frame.

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