Haruka

Launch Successful

Launch Details

Date: 12 Feb 1997, 04:50 am UTC

Rocket: M-V (Mu)

Provider: Institute of Space and Astronautical Science

Mission

Type: Astrophysics

Orbit: Elliptical Orbit

Pad: Mu Center, Uchinoura Space Center, Japan

Mission Description

HALCA (Highly Advanced Laboratory for Communication and Astronomy), a.k.a. VSOP (Very Large Baseline Interferometry Space Observatory Programme) or Muses-B, is the first astronomical satellite dedicated to Very-Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). It was launched on its maiden flight by ISAS's M-5 [KM-V1] launch vehicle from Kagoshima Space Center on 12 February 1997.