Uchinoura Space Center

Established in February 1962, the Kagoshima Space Center (KSC) was constructed on the Pacific coast of Kagoshima Prefecture in Uchinoura (now part of Kimotsuki) for the purpose of launching large rockets with probe payloads. At the same time, the Mu program of large rockets was pursued. After four launch failures, an engineering test satellite was successfully put into orbit aboard a Lambda 4S-5 rocket. The satellite Ohsumi (named after a peninsula in Kagoshima Prefecture) marked Japan's first successful satellite launch. Subsequent improvements in the Mu class rocket enabled scientific satellite launches at a rate of one per year. Development of the new generation M-V rocket resulted in successful launch of the scientific satellite MUSES-B (HALCA) in February 1997. The first launch of the Epsilon rocket, of a small scientific satellite SPRINT-A, was performed at 14:00 JST, 14 September 2013. Launch pads • Kappa Pad - • Temporary pad - File:M-V with ASTRO-E2 on launch pad.jpeg|M-V pad with M-V-6 ( ASTRO-E2) File:Epsilon rocket F2.jpg|M-V pad with Epsilon-2 (ERG) ==See also==