Article Posted on : - May 18, 2010

The H-IIA F17 carrying AKATSUKI (left) and the bad weather condition at the Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center.

TOKYO (BNS): Japan on Tuesday postponed the launch of Venus Climate Orbiter "AKATSUKI" and the Small Solar Power Demonstrator "IKAROS" due to adverse weather condition at the Tanegashima Space Center.

Japan space agency JAXA, decided to delay the launch six minutes before the scheduled lift off for H-IIA F17 launch vehicle.

“After studying the weather conditions, the launch is rescheduled for May 21, at 6:58:22 a.m. (Japan Standard Time) as the weather is expected to recover in that timeframe," a JAXA official said in an official news release.

According to the JAXA, the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No.17 (H-IIA F17) will carry the AKATSUKI and IKAROS along with four other small secondary payloads from Launch Pad 1 at the Yoshinobu Launch Complex of the launch site.

The project PLANET-C also known as AKATSUKI, aims to elucidate mysteries about the Venus atmosphere and to establish planet meteorology as a world pioneer.

The PLANET-C project will observe the planet from the Venus orbit by an explorer with onboard scientific instruments, including an infrared observation device to acquire three dimensional meteorological data with a high resolution.

IKAROS is a space yacht that gathers energy for propulsion from sunlight pressure by means of a membrane (or a solar sail). It will also verify power generation from thin film solar cells attached on the membrane in addition to acceleration by solar radiation.

The IKAROS mission aims to verify navigation technology using a solar sail for first time in the world.