Tanegashima

Last week we visited the Tanegashima launch site of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Tanegashima is an island off the coast of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan. In the morning we took a ferry from Kagoshima on Kyushu and in the evening we flew back (the last ferry leaves already quite early and the airport is closer to the launch site than the port).

The "rocket" ferry that brought us to Tangeshima

Our flight back to Kagoshima

A friend from JAXA had organised a tour for us and some nice colleagues of JAXA showed us the site. However due to security restrictions we were not allowed to enter the assembly building, where the H-IIA rocket just now waits for the launch of the SELENE mission to the moon on Thursday.

H-IIA Rocket

H-II Launch site

On the picture above you can see the H-II launch site. The red and white towers are lightning conductors in case there is a storm, when the rocket is on the launch site. The two on the right are the current (H-IIA) launch site, while the others are for the new version (H-IIB).

Outside the actual launch site is a small museum where among other things some rocket engines are on exhibit. What we found especially interesting are the cut turbopumps.

LE-7 engine (main engine of the H-II rocket)

Fuel turbopump of the LE-7 engine