Maiden flight of Japan's M-V solid-fuel rocket carried HALCA (MUSES-B), the world's first space-based Very Long Baseline Interferometry satellite, into a highly elliptical orbit for ISAS radio astronomy observations.
- Outcome
- Success
- Orbit
- Elliptical
- Elliptical orbit
- Payload to orbit
- 956 kg
- Flight
- 1st
- of 7 M-V flights
- Date and time
- 12 February 1997, 04:50 UTC
- Rocket
- M-V
- Builder
- IHI
- Launch site
- Mu Center, Uchinoura Space Center, Japan
- Payload
- Astrophysics
- International designator
- 1997-005
- Launches in 1997
- 6th of 89
See it in orbit
Space Atlas shows the satellites and rocket stages from this launch in 3D.
Object pages on Space Atlas: HALCA
View satellites in Space Atlas