Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Receives Order from UAE to Launch a Satellite
Japan’s H2A rocket to launch UAE satellite
Date: Mar 01, 2015
Source: NHK World
A Japanese firm has received an order from the United Arab Emirates to launch a satellite. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the UAE’s space agency signed a contract last month. Mitsubishi offers launch services using the nation’s mainstay H2A rocket.
An H2A carrying an earth observation satellite named Khalifasat is scheduled to lift off in 2017 from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan. An H2A placed a South Korean satellite into orbit in 2012. Another is scheduled to launch a Canadian satellite in fiscal 2015. This is Mitsubishi’s third overseas satellite launch order since it began the business in 2007.
Japan faces tough competition from the United States and European rivals in the satellite launching business. But the H2A is beginning to earn the trust of prospective customers. The rocket boasts a 96-percent success rate with 21 successful launches in a row up to February.
