Rocket carrying 1st UAE-made satellite launched from Japan

Japan's rocket H-2A is launched, carrying aboard a green gas observing satellite "Ibuki-2" and KhalifaSat, a UAE satellite, Tanegashima, southern Japan, Monday, Oct. 29, 2018. The Japanese rocket carrying United Arab Emirates' first …more

A Japanese rocket on Monday lifted the United Arab Emirates' first locally made satellite into orbit successfully from a space center in southern Japan.

The KhalifaSat Earth observation satellite was launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries from the Tanegashima Space Center.

The H-2A rocket also is carrying an Ibuki-2 greenhouse gas observation satellite for Japan.

Both the KhalifaSat and Ibuki-2 have since been released separately into targeted orbit, said MHI Launch Services.

The launch marks progress in the Gulf nation's fledging space program.

The country aims to send its first two astronauts to the International Space Station in 2019. The UAE also aims to send a probe on its way to Mars in 2020 and to build a science city there by 2117.

Japan also aims to expand its commercial satellite launch services by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and make them globally competitive.

Japan's rocket H-2A is launched, carrying aboard a green gas observing satellite "Ibuki-2" and KhalifaSat, a UAE satellite, Tanegashima, southern Japan, Monday, Oct. 29, 2018. The Japanese rocket carrying United Arab Emirates' first …more

In this undated photograph released Feb. 2, 2018 by the state-run Emirates News Agency (WAM), Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai's ruler and the vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, center back row, …more