Tokyo: The location of three out of
four mini satellites developed by Japanese students and
launched by a rocket carrying a planetary probe last week, are
unknown, officials at Science Ministry has said.
Aerospace Development Committee officials yesterday
said only Soka University students are able to receive radio
signals from their satellite 'Negai' which was delivered into
space on Friday along with Venus probe Akatsuki and three
other satellites developed by universities and technical
college students.
Kagoshima University received radio signals shortly
after the launch its KSAT satellite but was unable to confirm
whether it came from same satellite. The university has had no
contact with the satellite since then.
A group of students from 22 universities and technical
colleges across Japan who has jointly developed Shin-en
satellite, has detected signals only once from the several
hours after its launch before losing the contact with it.
Waseda University has only detected very weak signals and
found it difficult to confirm whether its satellite WASEDASAT2
is in orbit.
As part of experiments in the country's space
development programme, the satellites were launched along with
Akatsuki and a "pace yacht" Ikaros, which will be propelled
using radiation from sunlight, on an H-2A rocket from the
Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, May 27, 2010, 14:15