The National Space Development Agency of Japan said Tuesday the launch of an H-IIA rocket originally scheduled for Jan. 31 will probably be delayed until early February.
NASDA was planning to conduct a test Tuesday on engine performance by putting liquid fuel into the rocket at the Tanegashima Space Center on the island of Tanegashima, Kagoshima Prefecture, but postponed the test to Thursday because of inclement weather.
With the delay, NASDA judged it difficult to launch the rocket Jan. 31 because the schedule became too tight, NASDA officials said.
The launch of the second H-IIA, whose engine is an improvement on that of the first H-IIA launched in August, is intended to put into orbit a device that will conduct experiments when re-entering the atmosphere.
The DASH, or demonstrator of atmospheric re-entry system with hyperbolic velocity, consists of box-shaped storage equipment and a cylindrical tester. It is 40 cm wide, 20 cm high and weighs 16 kg.
The officials said the tester will plunge into the atmosphere three days after the rocket is launched. It will travel at more than 36,000 kph, and scientists hope to study how objects heat up or resist heat by air attrition.