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Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and the Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the first
Quasi-Zenith Satellite "MICHIBIKI" using the H-IIA Launch
Vehicle (H-IIA) on September 11, 2010 from the Tanegashima
Space Center.
With the spread of car sat nav and GPS mobile phones,
satellite-based positioning systems have become an
indispensable part of our lives. But navigation can go astray
when signals are blocked or bounced in urban canyons or
mountainous terrain.
Offering a solution to these challenges, the MICHIBIKI
Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) will place satellites in
multiple orbital planes so that one satellite is always near the
zenith over Japan. The addition of QZSS will make it possible
to extend high accuracy service coverage where and when
it is not normally possible to acquire the number of satellites
required for GPS positioning. As the first QZSS satellite,
MICHIBIKI is to be used in a program to demonstrate the
technological validity of this boost to GPS availability and
performance. The MICHIBIKI satellite has been developed for
JAXA by Mitsubishi Electric in its role as prime contractor.
As at the end of September this year, MHI had achieved a
94.4 percent launch success rate for the H-IIA, the last twelve
consecutive successful launches. The company provides a
full range of launch services that encompasses everything
from rocket manufacture to launch vehicle and satellite
interface coordination, overall launch program management
and support for all aspects of the launch itself. |
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