Japan launches global rainfall monitoring satellite

Japan launched a rocket early Friday morning with a global precipitation monitoring satellite developed by U.S. and Japanese agencies on board, said the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

The rocket, H-2A launch vehicle, was lifted off from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture at 3:37 a.m. and detached the satellite, the Global Precipitation Measurement core observatory, about 16 minutes later, said the agency.

The satellite, which is 6.5 meters in height and four tons in weight, is designed to forecast abnormal weather conditions such as deluge and drought by monitoring rain clouds and precipitation.

The rocket also carried seven small satellites developed by Japanese universities, including Shinshu Univeristy's unit for telecommunications experiments using LED light and Kagoshima University's vapor measuring unit, according to local reports.