JAXAEngineering Test SatelliteETS-VIII (Kiku 8) was the eighth technology test satellite in a series which started with ETS-1 in 1975 by
NASDA. It was launched with the
H-2A on December 18, 2006. ETS-VIII was developed by
JAXA in cooperation with
NICT and
NTT. The aim of ETS-VIII was to enable
satellite communications with small terminals. Unlike the
Iridium satellites for mobile communication, ETS-VIII was positioned at
GEO.
However to fulfill the task, it was essential that the satellite carried two very large antennas. It was the first use of the 204 configuration (four strap-on boosters) of the H-IIA launch vehicle.
Timetable
December 20, 2000: Launch of LDREX, a demonstration of the large antenna reflector deployment, aboard
Ariane 5. Deployment failed.
October 14, 2006: Launch of LDREX-2 with the
Ariane 5, model antenna deployed successfully.
December 18, 2006: ETS-VIII was launched aboard
H-IIA.
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ).
Cubesats are smaller. Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
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