Posted: Sun, Feb 1 8:09 AM ET (1309 GMT)
A Japanese H-2A rocket launched a spare reconnaissance satellite Sunday. The H-2A lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center at 8:21 pm EST Saturday (0121 GMT, 10:21 am local time Sunday) and placed an Information Gathering Satellite (IGS) into orbit. The spacecraft will serve as an on-orbit spare for the existing family of radar IGS spacecraft. The launch was scheduled for Thursday but postponed by poor weather as the launch site.

Related Links:

•  NASASpaceFlight.com article
•  Spaceflight Now article
•  Jiji Press article
•  AFP article
•  JAXA press release (in Japanese)

Posted: Sat, Jan 31 12:03 PM ET (1703 GMT)
A Delta 2 rocket successfully placed a NASA Earth sciences satellite into orbit Saturday morning. The Delta 2 7320 lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, at 6:22 am PST (9:22 am EST, 14022 GMT) Saturday. Its primary payload, the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite, separated from the rocket's upper stage nearly one hour later, entering a sun-synchronous orbit. The launch was scheduled for Thursday but postposed by gusty upper-level winds, and a Friday attempt was delayed to make minor repairs to the rocket. Upper-levels winds were also high Saturday morning, but subsided in time for the launch. The Delta 2 also deployed four CubeSat-class satellites after the release of SMAP. The SMAP spacecraft is designed to provide global measurements of soil measure for weather, climate, and related Earth science applications.

Related Links:

•  SPACE.com article
•  Lompoc (Calif.) Record article
•  AP article
•  SEN article
•  NASA press release

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