Japanese rocket blasts off

Japan has successfully launched its H-2A rocket, which is seen as vital to the future of the national space programme. The rocket blasted off into a clear blue sky from its launch site on Tanegashima island, about 1,000 km (625 miles) south of Tokyo, at 1600 local time (0700GMT). Forty minutes later, the craft deployed a test satellite, crowning a mission described by a National Space Development Agency (Nasda) spokesman as very much a success. The H-2A rocket is intended to establish a Japanese presence in the commercial satellite launch market, now dominated by the United States and Europe, but it has suffered repeated technical problems. A Nasda official said the payload and second stage engine would remain in orbit for about a year until they burned up on re-entering the atmosphere. The launch had been delayed several times - a last-minute hitch with loading rocket fuel put back the schedule by several hours on Wednesday. Last week, a problem with a valve in one of the rocket's engines was exacerbated by the arrival of Typhoon Pabuk, which prevented investigators from flying to the launch site from the mainland. Nasda was set up in 1969 and launched Japan's first totally self-developed rocket, the H-2, in 1994.