TOKYO -- Japan's space agency announced a plan to relaunch its SS-520 No.4 minirocket, which failed during launch in January. The unusually speedy move is being taken to meet demand from the public and private sectors to increase the use of civilian products in the space industry. 

At a Feb. 17 news conference, Naoki Okumura, president of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, said he wants to relaunch the rocket, after probing the cause of the failure and considering the necessary next steps. It was only four days before that JAXA released the outcome of an investigation into the cause of the failure.

The announcement is a very optimistic outlook given that preparations for rocket launches usually take a few years. 

In the case of a launch failure, it is common to secure a budget from the government before planning the next move. However, Okumura remained bullish. "We will see more efforts to produce rockets at lower costs by using civilian technology, and the industry is expecting this, too," he said. 

Okumura's confidence is largely due to the fact that the costs for the next launch -- in the range of 300 million yen to 500 million yen ($2.63 million to $4.39 million) -- will be mainly borne by private companies. The government is also expected to contribute to the budget. 

One of the selling points of the minirocket was the active use of civilian products to cut costs. Engineers from Canon Electronics, a unit of the Japanese imaging devices maker Canon, participated in the manufacturing of control equipment for the first time. Canon Electronics plans to accelerate its space drive, Vice President Takeshi Hashimoto said.

The three-stage rocket is an upgrade of JAXA's two-stage SS-520, which carries instruments for research observations. A bundle of wires was routed in and out of the rocket through simple cutouts on the rocket's second and third stage shells.

Postmortem

Investigators suspect that there was a loss of power caused by short-circuiting wires. The coating of the joint surface of metallic holes and wires could have come off due to the rocket body vibrating during the launch. 

Although the wire bundle was protected by fiberglass tape, mechanical friction caused the tape and wire insulation coating to abrade, leading to bare metal touching the conductive aluminum structure. This caused a short circuit between the wire and ground that generated a transient current in excess of 40 amps. In an experiment reproducing the incident, it was confirmed that damage occurred to tape that protects the wires. The power supply was also found to be damaged due to extremely high pressure from the current. 

Quelle: ASIAN REVIEW

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Update: 14.11.2017

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Japan to try again with world’s smallest satellite-carrying rocket

The space agency will try once again in December to launch the world’s smallest rocket capable of placing a satellite in orbit after the initial attempt failed in January.

The rocket, measuring 10 meters long and 50 cm in diameter, will carry a “micro-mini” satellite weighing about 3 kg developed by the University of Tokyo to collect imagery of the Earth’s surface.

 

The launch scheduled for Dec. 25 will feature the fifth rocket in the SS-520 series.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is hoping small rockets made with commercially available components at low cost will help fuel the growing global demand for micro-mini satellites.

JAXA used components found in home electronics and smartphones for the rocket, which is about the size of a utility pole.

The three-stage rocket is scheduled to lift off from the Uchinoura Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture between 10 a.m. and 2:15 p.m.

JAXA launched the No. 4 vehicle on Jan. 15 but was forced to have it plunge into the sea shortly after liftoff due to a communications problem. The agency determined that vibrations during the liftoff caused a short circuit, leading to loss of power at its data transmitter.

The agency said it has reinforced protection for electric cables used in the No. 5 vehicle to prevent a short circuit. It has also introduced steps to reduce vibrations during the upcoming liftoff.

Quelle: The Japan Times

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Update: 24.11.2017

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