Here's the article.
The Japanese-built H-2A rocket powered into the evening sky leaving a huge plume of vapor above the launch site on the tiny island of Tanegashima, 620 miles southwest of Tokyo at 6:25 p.m. (4:25 a.m. EST).
"The satellite separated from the rocket about 40 minutes after takeoff and is now in its initial orbit," Tsukasa Mito, an executive director at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) told a post-launch news conference. The dual-purpose navigation and meteorological satellite is due to start operating in May.
Television showed scientists applauding and shaking hands in the control room.
"At the moment of takeoff, my heart swelled," said Education and Science Minister Nariaki Nakayama, whose ministry oversees JAXA. "When I heard the satellite had separated successfully, I was relieved, but at the same time I thought it was a matter of course."Takeoff was more than an hour later than planned after an error occurred in the H-2A's data transmission system. Poor weather had caused an earlier two-day delay.
They had to blow up the last launch. So props to them.
- Art Neuro
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