The Uchinoura Space Center (内之浦宇宙空間観測所, Uchinoura Uchū Kūkan Kansokusho) is a space launch facility close to the Japanese town of Kimotsuki, in Kagoshima Prefecture. Before the establishment of the JAXA space agency in 2003, it was simply called the Kagoshima Space Center (鹿児島宇宙空間観測所). All Japan's scientific satellites were launched from Uchinoura prior to the M-V launch vehicles being decommissioned. Additionally, the centre has antennas for com...
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The Uchinoura Space Center (内之浦宇宙空間観測所, Uchinoura Uchū Kūkan Kansokusho) is a space launch facility close to the Japanese town of Kimotsuki, in Kagoshima Prefecture. Before the establishment of the JAXA space agency in 2003, it was simply called the Kagoshima Space Center (鹿児島宇宙空間観測所). All Japan's scientific satellites were launched from Uchinoura prior to the M-V launch vehicles being decommissioned. Additionally, the centre has antennas for communication with interplanetary space probes.
Established in February 1962, the Kagoshima Space Center (KSC) was constructed on the Pacific coast of Kagoshima Prefecture at Uchinoura for the purpose of launching large rockets with probe payloads. Prior to establishment of KSC, test launches of the Pencil Rocket, Baby Rocket and Kappa Rocket had been performed at the pioneering Akita rocket test facility (Michikawa) from the mid-1950s to the 1960s. However, progress in rocket development and larger launch vehicles required a site with more...
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