QZS-4 (Michibiki No. 4) – H-2A (F36) – Танэгасима – 09.10.2017, 22:02 UTC

[tnt22]

http://h2a.mhi.co.jp/en/mission/countdown/h2a_f36.html

October 10, 2017 07:30 JST
Separation of "MICHIBIKI No. 4" confirmed

The separation of "MICHIBIKI No. 4" has been confirmed.

[tnt22]

Spaceflight101 LIVE‏ @S101_Live 10 мин. назад

SEPARATION! #QZS4 has arrived in orbit, set to bring the QZSS navigation augmentation system to full strength! http://bit.ly/2qwN371 

[tnt22]

Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 11 мин. назад

S/C Sep for QZS(S)-4! ARTICLE: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/10/japans-h-2a-rocket-qzss-4-launch/ ... COVERAGE: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=39432.0 ...

Japan's H-2A conducts QZSS-4 launch

[tnt22]

Ув. Lesobaza пишет:
Итого - три!!

Была б у Криса картинка с трассой VRSS-2 - несомненно, он бы учёл и его. И уточнение - три пуска за 18 часов, даже не за сутки... Ну и со вторника по пятницу тоже красиво должно получиться...

[tnt22]

Запись вывоза РН на СК от JAXA

H-IIAロケット36号機の機体移動

JAXA | 宇宙航空研究開発機構

Опубликовано: 9 окт. 2017 г.

(1:53)

[tnt22]

Видео пуска с разных точек

20171010 みちびき4号機打ち上げ (H2Aロケット 36号機) H-2A Launching Michibiki 4

FUJIYAMA

Опубликовано: 9 окт. 2017 г.

(2:48 )

H-IIA F36 launches QZS-4 (Michibiki 4/準天頂衛星 みちびき4号機)

SciNews

Опубликовано: 9 окт. 2017 г.

(2:54)

[tnt22]

Запись трансляции JAXA

準天頂衛星「みちびき4号機」／H-IIAロケット36号機打ち上げ中継

JAXA | 宇宙航空研究開発機構

(57:11)

[tnt22]

真之介0113‏ @shinnosuke0113 59 мин. назад

H-2Aロケット36号機打ち上げ 600mmver #H2AF36 #QZS4

[tnt22]

Послепусковая пресс-конференция намечена ориентировочно на 08:40 JST (02:40 ДМВ)

ネコビデオ ビジュアル ソリューションズ‏ @nvslive 9 мин. назад

H-2Aロケット36号機の打ち上げ後会見はこのあと８：４０～を予定

[tnt22]

Совместная пресс-конференция JAXA и MHI
 

[tnt22]

Пресс-релиз по итогам запуска
На яп. яз
От JAXA - http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2017/10/20171010_h2af36_j.html

От Mitsubishi - http://mhi.co.jp/notice/notice_171010.html

На англ. яз. от JAXA - http://global.jaxa.jp/press/2017/10/20171010_h2af36.html

Successful Launch, H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 36 Encapsulating MICHIBIKI No. 4

October 10, 2017 (JST)

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
National Research and Development Agency
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and JAXA successfully launched H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 36 (H-IIA・F36) which encapsulates MICHIBIKI No. 4, Quasi-Zenith Satellite System; at 7:01:37a.m., 2017 (JST) from the JAXA Tanegashima Space Center.
The launch and flight of H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 36 proceeded as planned. So did the separation of MICHIBIKI No. 4, which was confirmed at approximately 28 minutes and 20 seconds after liftoff.
We express sincere appreciation for all.

[tnt22]

JAXA и MHI выпустили предварительный отчет о циклограмме полёта РН H-2A F36 при выводе КА QZS-4 (Michibiki-4) - 20171010_h2af36_j.pdf, 1 стр
 

[tnt22]

http://spaceflight101.com/h-iia-qzs-4/final-building-block-for-japanese-navigation-constellation-arrives-in-orbit/

Final Building Block for Japanese Navigation Constellation Arrives in Orbit
October 9, 2017

Japan's H-IIA rocket blasted off from Tanegashima Island Tuesday morning with the final building block in the country's regional navigation system, designed to improve GPS navigation services in the street canyons of the island nation's largest cities and deliver enhanced navigation accuracy to aid air traffic control.

Спойлер

Photo: @naritamasahiro / Twitter

The 53-meter tall H-IIA raced off into the morning skies at 7:01:37 a.m. local time, 22:01 UTC on Monday, heading out over the Pacific Ocean to deploy the fourth satellite in the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System, set to reach its fully operational capabilities by the middle of 2018 for 24/7 navigation augmentation over the Japanese Islands, also providing an additional navigation beacon to the broader Asia-Pacific Region.

The ascending rocket dropped its two Solid Rocket Boosters under two minutes after launch and the cryogenic core stage continued firing until the six-and-a-half-minute mark when the second stage took over for a pair of firings, first to enter a preliminary orbit and again to boost the 4,000-Kilogram QZS-4 satellite into a highly elliptical transfer orbit. Over the coming days, the satellite will maneuver into a slot between the first two constellation satellites to mark the beginning of final commissioning work to bring the system to full capacity.


Image: Mitsubishi Electric

H-IIA made its 36th overall flight Tuesday morning and flew for the fifth time this year – marking a new record for the vehicle as the previous best was four launches in 2006 and 2014.

Japan's Quasi Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) represents a single spacecraft in Geostationary Orbit, remaining locked in the same position of the sky, and a trio of satellites in a specialized elliptical orbit that allows each to dwell at high elevation over Japan for eight hours per day – providing an additional reference point for GPS receivers installed in cars, phones and other consumer devices that may otherwise not find a sufficient number of satellites overhead when navigating the urban canyons of Japan's large cities as tall buildings block out or scatter signals  from satellites that are lower in the sky.

GPS currently operates thirty active satellites in six orbital planes some 20,200 Kilometers in altitude, each transmitting broadcast signals from which ground receivers can triangulate their position. At least four satellites have to be in view for a receiver to calculate its position with three used for triangulation and the fourth for time synchronization. Through the addition of at least one QZSS satellite at high elevation, the odds increase for a sufficient number of GPS-transmitters being visible for users, even between high-rise buildings.


Increasing Coverage in Japan's Urban Canyons – Image: JAXA

QZSS takes a unique spot in the world's navigation satellite systems as an augmentation architecture for a foreign constellation. Augmentation services are provided in a twofold manner: a) by sending GPS-compatible navigation signals in the L1, L2 and L5 bands to increase GPS availability and b) by relaying L1S and L5S augmentation signals generated on the ground to allow equipped receivers to factor signal corrections into their position calculations to yield a more precise result.

QZSS as a project was initiated in 2002, starting out under the auspices of an industry consortium which eventually dissolved and handed the project off to JAXA for further development work. The U.S. provided clearance in 2006 for QZSS to use the GPS navigation bands, a major prerequisite to the launch of the first QZS pathfinder satellite in 2010 on a proof-of-concept mission.

By 2011, the Michibiki-1 satellite had been declared healthy and began transmitting signals for extensive calibration and characterization, showing that GPS accuracy with augmentation messages from the satellite increased by a factor of 2.5. The promising results delivered by QZS-1 paved the way for the deployment of an operational QZSS constellation and JAXA ordered three satellites from Mitsubishi Electric in 2014 under a $526 million contract.

>> QZSS Satellite & Constellation Overview


3 QZSS Constellation at 120-degree spacing for 24/7 Coverage – Image: JAXA

Initially baselined as a three-satellite constellation operating in elliptical 24-hour orbits to serve the Japanese islands, the system was expanded through the addition of a single Geostationary Satellite that could transmit augmentation messages to the entire Asia-Pacific Region.

With the path cleared for QZSS operational services, JAXA lined up a rapid fire campaign to get all three satellites into orbit within a four-and-a-half-month period in 2017. QZS-2 lifted off on June 1st and joined the Michibiki-1 satellite in what is known as Tundra orbit while QZS-3, the heaviest member of the group tipping the scales at 4,800kg, launched on August 19 and since entered Geostationary Orbit. QZS-4, an identical copy of QZS-2, will phase into the slot between the 1 and 2 satellites to have at least one satellite at elevation angles of 60 degrees or higher, as seen from the Japanese territory.


QZS-4 in Launch Configuration – Photo: QZSS Project

Based on the flight-proven DS-2000 satellite platform, QZS-4 stands 6.2 meters tall and has a launch mass of 4,000 Kilograms, including 370kg for the navigation payload. At the heart of the navigation package sits a pair of redundant Rubidium Atomic Clocks that provide the ultra-stable timing needed for the generation of the navigation signal that is transmitted via an L-Band antenna.

While the navigation signals are generated on board the satellite using the precise clocks as reference, augmentation messages are assembled on the ground by monitoring GPS signal variability through an array of ground stations across Japan and surrounding regions which detect GPS clock errors and other factors like signal delay caused by changes in Earth's ionosphere. Correction data for these varying factors is uplinked to the QZS satellite which immediately re-transmits it to any enabled receiver in its footprint to then apply the corrections to its navigation solution to yield a more accurate location, on average with one-meter accuracy.

QZSS delivers the L1-SAIF (Sub-meter class Augmentation with Integrity Function) that is compatible with the U.S. Wide Area Augmentation System, plus an L1-SAIF+ signal that allows receivers to acquire GPS position lock faster and provides space for messages for disaster relief. Additionally, an experimental signal designated L-EX is compatible with the European Galileo satellite constellation coming on line by the end of the decade.

An expansion of QZSS to seven satellites is planned in the 2020s to add three craft to the elliptical orbit constellation segment so that two satellites dwell at high angles over Japan at any given time.


Photo: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

H-IIA, gearing up for its 36th launch since debuting in 2001, rolled to Launch Pad 1 at the sea-side launch complex at 10 UTC on Monday, two hours later than planned after an umbilical on the rocket had to be re-tensioned. Standing 53 meters tall, the H-IIA 202 launch vehicle comprises a two stage stack measuring four meters in diameter and a pair of SRB-A3 Solid Rocket Boosters attached to the first stage. Weighing 285 metric tons at launch, H-IIA 202 can lift 4,100 Kilograms into Geostationary Transfer Orbit.

>> H-IIA 202 Overview

The two-hour delay to the rollout was made up through on-pad schedule margin and H-IIA entered its Terminal Countdown Operation at 13:30 UTC with launch vehicle activation and checkouts. Over the course of a three-hour sequence, the two-stage launch vehicle was loaded with 120 metric tons of -183°C Liquid Oxygen and Liquid Hydrogen, stored at -253°C. Confirmation that both stages had reached flight level was provided at 17:13 UTC and tanks were kept topped up for the remainder of the countdown.

Final testing wrapped up as the sun came up over Tanegashima less than one hour before the instantaneous launch opportunity. As the countdown switched to auto-mode at X-4.5 minutes, H-IIA pressurized its propellant tanks, transferred to internal power and switched to onboard control before activating thermal batteries and completing a final thrust vector control check on the boosters to clear the way for ignition.

H-IIA fired up its LE-7A main engine at X-5.2 seconds, soaring to a liftoff thrust of 86 metric ton-force under close watch by computers before the point of no return – ignition of the twin boosters when clocks its zero, catapulting the vehicle skyward with a total thrust of 596 metric tons.


Photo: MHI/JAXA Webcast

H-IIA balanced in a vertical orientation for only a few seconds before its engine and boosters gimbaled to place the vehicle onto a south-easterly departure path across the Pacific Ocean, burning 1,600 Kilograms of propellant each second of powered flight.

The familiar scream of the H-II family was audible as the vehicle made its early morning departure, passing Mach 1 less than a minute into the flight and encountering Maximum Dynamic Pressure shortly thereafter with the boosters entering a 'bucket' in their thrust profile to reduce stress on the climbing rocket.

The SRB-A3 boosters did most of the heavy-lifting in the early portion of the flight, each burning through 66 metric tons of propellants to generate 255 metric ton-force of thrust over a 98-second burn. Optimized for high-energy missions by providing higher thrust over a shorter burn, the 15-meter long boosters helped accelerate H-IIA to 1.5 Kilometers per second and dropped away one minute and 48 seconds after launch, using their thrust struts to ensure a clean separation.


Photo: MHI

Jettisoning the boosters 54 Kilometers in altitude, H-IIA headed on toward space powered by the LE-7A alone, burning 260 Kilograms of propellant per second to generate a vacuum thrust of 109,000 Kilogram-force. Four minutes and ten seconds into the flight, H-IIA crossed 151 Kilometers in altitude and separated its protective payload fairing to shed no-longer-needed weight on its way into orbit.

The rocket's first stage boosted the vehicle's speed to 5.2 Kilometers per second, shutting down its engine six minutes and 38 seconds after liftoff. Springs pushed the 37-meter long first stage clear of the upper stage six seconds after main engine cutoff as it handed powered flight duties over to Stage 2 for a pair of engine burns to lift QZS-4 into its desired transfer orbit.

The 14,000-Kilogram-force LE-5B engine started up just shy of seven minutes into the launch, tasked with accelerating the vehicle to orbital velocity to reach an initial Low Earth Parking Orbit. The five-minute and 37-second LE-5B burn was by the book with shutdown occurring 290 Kilometers over the Pacific Ocean, marking the start of a 12-minute coast phase.

Instead of a mission to Geostationary Transfer Orbit that aims to minimize inclination, H-IIA was actively working to increase orbital inclination, targeting a highly elliptical orbit of 250 by 36,140 Kilometers, inclined 31.9 degrees.

Re-start of the second stage was confirmed at X+24.5 minutes on a burn of exactly three minutes to raise the vehicle's speed by 2.5 Kilometers per second and accomplish the high-energy injection required by Michibiki-4. Altitude and velocity closely matched the pre-launch prediction at SECO-2, indicating H-IIA had hit its orbital cutoff target with precision.


Michibiki-4 Separation – Image: MHI/JAXA Webcast

QZS-4 was sent on its way via spring-loaded separation fifty seconds after engine shutdown, embarking on a 15-year mission dedicated to delivering reliable and accurate navigation to users in Japan's canyon-like city streets and aviators across the Asia-Pacific Region. Its mission will begin with a series of firings of the R-4D main engine to spiral the spacecraft up into the specialized Geosynchronous Orbit of the QZS constellation that describes a Figure 8 with its ground track and dwells over the Japanese Islands with a high point of 38,900 Kilometers.

Checking off its fifth orbital delivery of the year, H-IIA can look back at three flights in support of QZSS, the deployment of a classified Information Gathering Satellite and the launch of the DSN-2 military communications satellite. Japan's next orbital launch was expected in November when an Epsilon rocket was to launch with the ASNARO-2 satellite; however, this mission has been delayed due to an electrical problem on the rocket. H-IIA will next see action with the launch of the GCOM-C climate satellite, a mission that has yet to receive a launch date.

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[tnt22]

НОРАД зарегистрировал два объекта запуска (TBA)
 

[triage]

У японцев MHI кажется рекорд по количеству запусков одного РН в календарный год.
5 запусков H-IIA в этом календарном году. Предыдущий 4 было в 2014 году. К слову в 2016 было всего 2.

[che wi]

なりたまさひろ‏ @naritamasahiro  7m

22mm相当の広角で撮ったロケットロード。予想以上に印象的な画になりました #H2AF36 #QZS4

[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/10/09/successful-h-2a-rocket-launch-rounds-out-japanese-navigation-network/

Successful H-2A rocket launch rounds out Japanese navigation network
October 9, 2017 Stephen Clark


Credit: JAXA

Japan's regional satellite navigation network, conceived to improve GPS coverage over Japanese territory, received its fourth member Monday with an on-target H-2A rocket launch.

Спойлер

The addition of the Michibiki 4 satellite puts Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System on course to begin full operational service early next year, coming after the launch of the network's first pathfinder spacecraft in 2010 and two more platforms in June and August of this year.

The 174-foot-tall (53-meter) H-2A rocket ignited its LE-7A main engine and two solid rocket boosters to fire away fr om the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan at 2201:37 GMT (6:01:37 p.m. EDT) Monday.

Liftoff occurred at 7:01 a.m. Tuesday in Japan, shortly after sunrise at the picturesque spaceport carved on the southern flank of Tanegashima Island on a rocky overlook on the Pacific Ocean.

The launcher headed southeast, soaring through scattered clouds painted in the orange hue of sunrise. The H-2A's twin solid rocket boosters burned out and separated around two minutes after liftoff, and the rocket's hydrogen-fueled main engine continued driving the vehicle higher over the Pacific.

The first stage shut down and jettisoned around six-and-a-half minutes into the flight to fall into the sea, and an upper stage LE-5B engine fired two times to maneuver the Michibiki 4 satellite into an elliptical, egg-shaped transfer 31.7-degree inclination orbit ranging fr om about 200 miles (300 kilometers) to more than 22,000 miles (35,000 kilometers) above Earth.

A commentator on a live webcast of the launch provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency announced separation of the Michibiki 4 satellite around 28 minutes after liftoff, wrapping up the 36th flight of Japan's workhorse H-2A rocket.

"The launch and flight of H-2A Launch Vehicle No. 36 proceeded as planned," JAXA said in a statement. "So did the separation of Michibiki No. 4, which was confirmed at approximately 28 minutes and 20 seconds after liftoff."

The satellite weighed about 4 metric tons, or approximately 8,800 pounds, at the time of launch. It was built by Mitsubishi Electric Corp. in Japan.

Michibiki 4 is the fourth satellite designed for Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System, which aims to improve navigation accuracy in Japan, especially in urban areas and rough terrain wh ere skyscrapers and terrain block GPS signals.

Michibiki is a nickname for the quasi-zenith satellites, meaning "guiding" or "showing the way" in Japanese.

The satellite is designed for a 15-year service life in an orbit inclined approximately 41 degrees to the equator.

Japan's Cabinet Office, the government agency in charge of the navigation program, says the quasi-zenith satellites are entirely compatible with the GPS network. Each spacecraft will broadcast four L-band navigation signals.


The Michibiki 4 navigation satellite pictured before launch. Credit: Japanese Cabinet Office

The first two Michibiki spacecraft went into inclined geosynchronous-type orbits that oscillate between the northern and southern hemispheres, while Michibiki 3 launched into a geostationary orbit that hovers over the equator.

Michibiki 4 is roughly identical to the Michibiki 2 satellite launched in June.

The spacecraft's on-board thruster will raise its orbit into a near-circular inclined geosynchronous perch ranging in altitude between 24,000 miles (38,500 kilometers) over the northern hemisphere and 20,500 miles (33,100 kilometers) over the southern hemisphere.

The orbit will allow Michibiki 4 to complete one lap around Earth in nearly 24 hours, maintaining its position in the sky over the Asia-Pacific. Projected against Earth's surface, Michibiki 4's ground track will chart an asymmetric figure-eight pattern stretching from Japan to Australia as it alternates north and south of the equator.

GPS satellites, operated by the U.S. Air Force, circle Earth in lower orbits, meaning different spacecraft are visible in the sky at different times, acting as navigation beacons to triangulate the location of ground users.

Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System will add more beacons to the sky over the Asia-Pacific, resulting in more precise position estimates and improved service in urban areas and remote regions, wh ere high-rise buildings and mountains can obstruct signals from GPS satellites low on the horizon.

The QZSS network will allow users in Japan to determine their position with unparalleled centimeter-level precision via satellite, according to Japan's Cabinet Office.

The four-satellite system should be operational as soon as April 2018, and the Japanese government plans to add three more satellites to upgrade the fleet in the 2020s.

Japan is not the only country working on a regional satellite navigation system. India has launched seven satellites to augment GPS signals over its own territory.

Other navigation projects strive to field an independent global navigation service. The Russian military's Glonass fleet is an analog to the U.S. Air Force's GPS network, currently providing near-global reach. China and the European Union are also developing their own worldwide navigation fleets.

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[zandr]

https://ria.ru/space/20171010/1506511098.html

Япония запустила новый спутник для создания собственной системы GPS
ТОКИО, 10 окт — РИА Новости. Япония запустила во вторник свой четвертый спутник для создания собственной системы GPS высокой точности "Митибики-4" с космодрома Танэгасима, расположенного в префектуре Кагосима на юго-западе страны.
Старт ракеты-носителя H2A-F36 напрямую транслировался в режиме онлайн в интернете.
Предыдущий спутник этой серии был запущен 19 августа, чтобы стать составной частью системы позиционирования QZSS (Quazi Zenith Satellite System) по типу GPS.
Если работа четвертого спутника будет успешной, с 2018 года Япония начнет пользоваться своей системой позиционирования в дополнение к американской GPS, а с 2023 года правительство рассчитывает начать эксплуатацию своей собственной системы, состоящей из семи спутников, уже не опираясь на американскую GPS.

Спойлер

Квазизенитная спутниковая система QZSS, состоящая из трех спутников, передвигающихся по геосинхронной высокоэллиптической орбите "Тундра", и одного спутника на геостационарной орбите, позволит обеспечить бесперебойный прием GPS-сигналов и, таким образом, повысить надежность и точность трехмерной спутниковой навигации до 99,8%.
Точность системы позволит снизить погрешность при определении местоположения до нескольких сантиметров. Погрешность современных систем составляет около 10 метров.
Кроме системы позиционирования, в рамках QZSS планируется также создание новой спутниковой системы измерения времени, которая не требовала бы использования атомных часов на борту, таких как в спутниках ГЛОНАСС и GPS.
Разработка системы позиционирования QZSS началась около 15 лет назад. В 2010 году в Японии был осуществлен запуск ракеты-носителя с первым спутником "Митибики". Запуск второго спутника состоялся 1 июня 2017 года.
Хотя в Токио называют цели таких спутников навигационными, они вызывают опасение в КНДР. Ранее в Пхеньяне заявили, что на деле это спутники-шпионы, а навигация — только "предлог".
В КНДР утверждают, что Япония пытается оправдать "возрождение милитаризма" нападками на космическую программу Пхеньяна, который проводит ракетные испытания, несмотря на санкции СБ ООН.
В Северной Корее утверждают, что с 2003 года Япония "запустила уже множество шпионских спутников и постоянно ведет слежку" на северокорейской территории.

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[che wi]

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/10/10/national/science-health/japans-fourth-quasi-zenith-positioning-satellite-successfully-launches-orbit/

[triage]

che wi пишет:
 https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/10/10/national/science-health/japans-fourth-quasi-zenith-positioning-satellite-successfully-launches-orbit/

Интересно. Разбавлю от российских СМИ, которые выкидывают детали, и получая

Точность системы позволит снизить погрешность при определении местоположения до нескольких сантиметров. Погрешность современных систем составляет около 10 метров

 https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/10/10/national/science-health/japans-fourth-quasi-zenith-positioning-satellite-successfully-launches-orbit/#.Wd4E0Gi0M-U

Спойлер

ТANEGASHIMA, KAGOSHIMA PREF. – Japan successfully launched its fourth and final quasi-zenith satellite into orbit on Tuesday to help create a new system to improve the accuracy of GPS data for a range of applications, including smartphones and vehicle navigation systems.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched an H-IIA rocket carrying the Michibiki No. 4 satellite fr om the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture at 7:01 a.m.

The government satellite was separated from the rocket about 28 minutes after liftoff and entered its target quasi-zenith orbit.

[свернуть]

The Michibiki satellite system complements GPS, helping reduce positioning errors in the U.S. system to around one meter. It is also designed to realize positioning accuracy of a few to scores of centimeters by using data received by electronic reference stations set up across Japan by the Geospatial Information Authority.

The Michibiki system helps reduce areas wh ere radio waves are difficult to reach, such as locations between tall buildings and in mountainous areas.

With the launch of the new satellite, radio waves from the Michibiki system can be received in Japan constantly.

The government plans to start supplying positioning data in fiscal 2018 using four Michibiki satellites — the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 quasi-zenith satellites moving almost directly above Japan and the No. 3 geostationary satellite.

Experiments have been conducted on such positioning data for introducing autonomous heavy machinery at construction sites and self-driving tractors on farmland.

Other applications include a tourism navigation system combining augmented reality technology with positioning data from Michibiki.

The government plans to operate seven positioning satellites in fiscal 2023, to make its Michibiki system fully independent from GPS.

"We're planning to conduct in November an experiment on a self-driving bus utilizing the Michibiki system on the main island of Okinawa," said Go Takizawa, executive director of the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System Strategy Office at the Cabinet Office's National Space Policy Secretariat.

Спойлер

The No. 1 satellite was launched in September 2010, the No. 2 in June this year and the No. 3 in August.

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