Article Posted on : - May 18, 2012

Japan's H-IIA rocket lifts off from the launch pad at the Tanegashima space centre. Photo: JAXA.

TOKYO (BNS): Japan has successfully put a foreign-made commercial satellite into space Friday.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the Global Changing Observation Mission 1st - Water "SHIZUKU" (GCOM-W1) and the Korean Multi-purpose Satellite 3 (KOMPSAT-3) of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) by the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 21 (H-IIA F21) at 1:39 a.m. on Friday (16:39 GMT Thursday) from the Tanegashima Space Center, according to a news report by JAXA.

The South Korean satellite, KOMPSAT-3 separated from the rocket 16 minutes after launch, followed by three Japanese satellites.

The South Korean satellite, the KOMPSAT-3, is a multipurpose observation satellite developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute.

One of the Japanese satellites, the Shinzuku, would be used for monitoring global ocean currents and the other two smaller satellites were experimental models, the release added.

It was the 21st launch since 2001 of the H-IIA rocket, which was developed by JAXA.