JAXA Engineering Test Satellite ETS-VIII (Kiku 8) is the eighth technology test satellite in a series which started with ETS-1 in 1975 by NASDA. It was launched with the H-2A on December 18, 2006.
ETS-VIII was developed by JAXA in cooperation with NICT and NTT.
The aim of ETS-VIII is to enable satellite communications with small terminals. Unlike the Iridium satellites for mobile communication, ETS-VIII is positioned at GEO.
However to fulfill the task the satellite must carry two very large antennas. So far, this has been the only use of the 204 configuration (four strap-on boosters) of the H-IIA launch vehicle.
Timetable
October 14, 2006 Launch of LDREX-2 with the Ariane 5, model antenna deployed.
December 26, 2006 Both antennas were deployed. [1]
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Cubesats are smaller. Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
This article about one or more spacecraft of Japan is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
