Posted: Sat, Nov 29, 2003, 10:40 AM ET (1540 GMT)
A Japanese H-2A rocket carrying two reconnaissance satellites was destroyed shortly after launch Saturday when one of its strap-on boosters failed to separate. The H-2A 2024 lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan at 11:33 pm EST Friday (0433 GMT, 1:33 pm local time Saturday) carrying the Information Gathering Satellites (IGS) 2A and 2B. However, the Japanese space agency JAXA reported that one of the vehicle's two SRB-A large solid rocket boosters failed to separate from the booster's first stage about 100 seconds after launch. The added mass of the booster — the SRB-A weighs about 10,000 kg without propellant — prevented the H-2A from achieving the velocity needed to make orbit, even after the first stage itself was jettisoned. Controllers issued commands to destroy the H-2A ten minutes after liftoff, when the vehicle was at an altitude of 422 kilometers. JAXA has convened an investigation board to look into the accident, the first in six launch attempts for the H-2A. The two IGS satellites are thought to be identical to a pair launched earlier this year on another H-2A; one satellite has a high-resolution optical camera while the other has a radar imager.
