. Shutdown was marked 27 and a half minutes after launch when the upper stage’s navigation platform sensed it had achieved the proper orbit.
QZS-2 was sent off with a spring-loaded separation 28.5 minutes after liftoff, embarking on a 15-year mission delivering accurate navigation to users in Japan’s canyon-like city streets and aviators across the Asia-Pacific Region.
QZS-2 will be tasked with a series of burns over the course of the coming days and weeks to maneuver from its transfer orbit into the specialized Geosynchronous Orbit of the QZS constellation that describes a Figure 8 with its ground track and dwells over the Japanese Islands, ensuring one of the three constellation satellites is at an elevation of 60 degrees or higher, as seen from Japan.
The successful launch of QZS-2 atop its H-IIA rocket marked the first of three planned orbital launches on Thursday, June 1, 2017. Next up will be a SpaceX Falcon 9 targeting an instantaneous launch window at 21:55 UTC to blast off with the Dragon SpX-11 resupply craft headed to the International Space Station. Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket stands ready for liftoff during a one-hour window opening at 23:45 UTC to lift the ViaSat-2 Internet and Eutelsat 172B multi-band satellites into Geostationary Transfer Orbit.
For Japan, Thursday’s launch marked the fourth orbital launch attempt of the year, three of which used the H-IIA. Japan has plenty more missions in store in 2017 including two more QZSS launches, the Global Change Observation Mission – Climate (GCOM-C) Earth science craft, a secretive Information Gathering Satellite, and the re-flight of the SS-520 Small Satellite Launch Vehicle.