JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into o ...

Engineering Test Satellite ETS-VIII (Kiku 8) was the eighth technology test satellite in a series which started with ETS-1 in 1975 by

NASDA The , or NASDA, was a Japanese national space agency established on October 1, 1969 under the National Space Development Agency Law only for peaceful purposes. Based on the Space Development Program enacted by the Minister of Education, Culture ...

. It was launched with the

H-2A H-IIA (H-2A) is an active expendable launch system operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. These liquid fuel rockets have been used to launch satellites into geostationary orbit; lunar orbi ...

on December 18, 2006. ETS-VIII was developed by

in cooperation with NICT and NTT. The aim of ETS-VIII was to enable

satellite communication A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. ...

s with small terminals. Unlike the

Iridium Iridium is a chemical element; it has the symbol Ir and atomic number 77. This very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, is considered the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium) with a density ...

satellites for mobile communication, ETS-VIII was positioned at GEO. However to fulfill the task, it was essential that the satellite carried two very large antennas. It was the first use of the 204 configuration (four strap-on boosters) of the H-IIA launch vehicle.

Timetable

*December 20, 2000: Launch of LDREX, a demonstration of the large antenna reflector deployment, aboard

Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a retired European heavy-lift space launch vehicle operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was launched from the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in French Guiana. It was used to deliver payloads into geostationar ...

. Deployment failed. *October 14, 2006: Launch of LDREX-2 with the

, model antenna deployed successfully. *December 18, 2006: ETS-VIII was launched aboard

H-IIA H-IIA (H-2A) is an active expendable launch system operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. These liquid fuel rockets have been used to launch satellites into geostationary orbit; lunar orbi ...

. *December 26, 2006: Both antennas were deployed

*January 9, 2007: GEO orbit injection.

*May 9, 2007: The satellite switched to normal operation phase

*January 10, 2017: Decommissioned.

References

Satellites of Japan Satellites using the DS2000 bus Spacecraft launched in 2006 Spacecraft launched by H-II rockets Derelict satellites orbiting Earth Satellites made by Mitsubishi Electric {{Japan-spacecraft-stub