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Japan's fifth H-2A rocket arrived Friday morning at a port of Tanegashima Island in western Japan, in preparation for launch in late March to deploy Japan's first two spy satellites in space.
According to Kyodo News, the domestically developed H-2A rocket was dissembled and delivered by two freighters to the island, where the Tanegashima Space Center is located.
Japan Coast Guard patrol ships, riot squads and private security guards tightly guarded the area near the port of Shimama, said the report.
Cranes lifted the containers believed to be holding the rocket parts onto large trailers. The parts of the containers usually bearing the name of the National Space Development Agency of Japan were covered in white.
The two ships left Nagoya port in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, on Thursday, Kyodo said.
Unlike arrangements for past rockets, the schedules and other details for this rocket were unannounced and the Japan Coast Guard escorted the rocket while it was being delivered, the report said.
The rocket is expected to be transported to the space center, some 18 kilometers from the port by early Saturday, Kyodo said, adding that the rocket and satellites are scheduled to be launched from the space center March 28.
(People’s Daily February 8, 2003)
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