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Monday, 24th January 2011
In General Japan News,

JAXA successfully launches rocket

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has managed to launch an unmanned cargo transporter successfully.

The rocket, which took off from the Tanegashima space centre, will deliver vital supplies to the International Space Station.

It is expected that the rocket and its 5.3 tonnes of supplies of food, water and tools will take around five days to reach the station and will be unloaded and burnt in the earth's atmosphere sometime in March.

So far, JAXA has successfully launched 19 out of 20 rockets since 2001 - statistics which has boosted the country's aerospace industry substantially. The current space plan includes the launch of a rocket per year until 2015.

JAXA was created in 2003, following the merging of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan and the National Space Development Agency of Japan.

Written by Mark Smith.

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