October 6, 2021 (JST)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will conduct the launch experiment of the SS-520-3 sounding rocket in cooperation with Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA) as follows.

1. Experiment period

Wednesday, November 3, 2021 – Tuesday, November 16, 2021 (including the preliminary period)

2. Experiment location

Andøya Space Center, Svalbard Rocket Range (Norway)

3. Launch vehicle

SS-520-3

4. Scheduled experiment date and time

Wednesday, November 3, 2021, 6:00 - 10:00 AM (Central European Time, CET)
2:00 - 6:00 PM (Japan Standard Time, JST)

5. Experiment summary

The purpose of this launch experiment is to elucidate the plasma outflow phenomena in the cusp region. The sounding rocket SS-520-3 will carry the equipment for observing electrons, ion, and electromagnetic fields and be launched to the cusp area. The radar and the aurora imaging cameras will also be used for the observation on the ground.
This launch campaign is one of the nine missions planned and carried out by the Grand Challenge Initiative Cusp (GCI), an international joint observation project investigating the geomagnetic cusp region of the ionosphere.