Japan successfully launched a South Korean multipurpose satellite into space on Friday, marking the country's entry into the world satellite launch market.
The H-2A rocket carrying the foreign-made satellite as well as three Japanese ones blasted off into space from the space center on Tanegashima Island in the country's south at about 1:40 a.m. local time on Friday.
The South Korean KOMPSAT-3 satellite separated from the rocket some 16 minutes after the launch, followed by the three Japanese satellites. Notably, it was Japan's first commercial launch of a foreign-made satellite.
According to a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) press release, KOMPSAT-3 is a multipurpose observation satellite developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute.
While one of three Japanese satellites launched along with KOMPSAT-3 is for monitoring global ocean currents, the other two smaller ones were experimental models.
It was the 21st launch of the Jaxa-developed H-2A rocket, which has been operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) since 2007.
Mitsubishi said after the launch that it was looking forward to enter the international satellite launch market, which is currently being dominated by the Europeans and Russians.
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