Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced today that it has shipped a payload fairing*1 for the H-IIA No.13 (H-IIA F13) launch vehicle to the Tanegashima Space Center of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Kawasaki designed and manufactured the launch vehicle at its Gifu Works before assembling and shipping it from its Harima Works. The fairing will next be installed for its upcoming launch this summer.
The fairing is 4 m in diameter with a single cover (4S), into which a large satellite will be installed. The fairing is large enough for satellites like those carried by the U.S. space shuttle or the European Ariane V. The H-IIA F13 launch vehicle will carry the Selenological & Engineering Explorer (SELENE*2) into space.
Kawasaki has developed and manufactured various types of payload fairings for H-IIA launch vehicles that can meet a wide range of launch needs including the launch of a large satellite or the simultaneous launch of two satellites.
*1: A payload fairing is a cover installed at the tip of a launch vehicle to protect the satellite from aerodynamic heating, acoustic noise and vibration during liftoff. After the launch vehicle leaves the earth's atmosphere, the fairing splits in two and is jettisoned, allowing the satellite to separate from the launch vehicle.
*2: SELENE is Japan's first large lunar explorer developed by JAXA. It is a three-ton-class satellite, equipped with 15 different kinds of mission equipment. It will be used to study the moon's origin and evolution and to map the moon's surface with an eye to future moon exploration.
Source: Kawasaki Heavy Industries
Digg
Reddit
Slashdot