Japan Launches UAE's Satellite KhalifaSat
Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries successfully delivered UAE Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre’s (MBRSC) KhalifaSat satellite into orbit via the H-IIA launch vehicle F40.The launch vehicle trajectory was executed as planned, and at about 24 minutes after liftoff, separation of the KhalifaSat satellite was confirmed.This mission was performed along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite-2 “GOSAT-2” satellite, in which the separation of the GOSAT-2 satellite was also confirmed 16 minutes after liftoff.KhalifaSat is the first national satellite manufactured by the UAE, thus the mission should prove to be a great step towards UAE’s mid-and-long term plans in government space activities and industries.Additionally…
MHI, MHPS in Consolidation Mode for Enhanced Competitiveness
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (MHPS) have planned to reorganize their their Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works and Nagasaki Works respectively. The coordinated decisions are aimed at further strengthening global competitiveness, particularly in terms of technologies, costs and efficiency, by pursuing higher productivity through consolidation of their manufacturing sites by product: at MHI in the area of defense and space systems, and at MHPS in operations involving thermal power generation systems. The reorganization initiatives are slated for completion by the end of March 2018.
A Japanese Space Mission for Rickmers
Space may be the final frontier but in this instance, the craft setting out on a momentous voyage was not the starship Enterprise but Rickmers New Orleans, one of nine identical ships maintaining Rickmers-Linie’s bi-weekly Round-the-World Pearl String service for heavylift and project cargo. On board was the Experiment Logistics Module - Pressurized Section (ELM-PS), which forms part of the Japanese Experiment Module Kibo (meaning ‘hope’), part of the Japanese contribution to the International Space Station (ISS). Rickmers New Orleans loaded the ELM-PS in Yokohama on February 7 and discharged it in Port Canaveral, close to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
