Japanese military satellite damaged during shipping
Japan’s troubled space effort suffered a bad setback when a Japanese military communications satellite was damaged in shipment to its launch site in French Guiana.
The launch of Japan’s first dedicated military communications satellite will be delayed by two years after a mishap with a blue tarpaulin damaged sensitive antennas during transportation to Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, two government sources told Reuters. The mishap has set back plans by Japan’s military to unify its fractured and overburdened communications network, and could hinder efforts to reinforce defenses in the East China Sea as Chinese military activity in the region escalates.
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Japan’s troubled space effort suffered a bad setback when a Japanese military communications satellite was damaged in shipment to its launch site in French Guiana.
The launch of Japan’s first dedicated military communications satellite will be delayed by two years after a mishap with a blue tarpaulin damaged sensitive antennas during transportation to Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, two government sources told Reuters. The mishap has set back plans by Japan’s military to unify its fractured and overburdened communications network, and could hinder efforts to reinforce defenses in the East China Sea as Chinese military activity in the region escalates.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
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Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
When I first heard of shipping containers having fallen over board across the Atlantic, I assumed it was a fraud. But it seems to be normal! It mishappens regularly. The lost containers where stacked on the top and the ship went through a storm. Not that this satellite was in a container, but something broke and played flipper with it regardless of its packaging. A few containers falling over board is acceptable losses in the shipping business. Google “ships in storm” for some videos to show what it is like out there sometimes.
So, launching from Guyana adds that risk to the space launch risk. I’m surprised it has worked so very well thus far. But Japanese payloads are more rare from Guyana, maybe the Pacific is too wild to make that a regular business.
Localfluff,
In this case, the satellite was shipped by aircraft, which routinely are flown at a reduced pressure (e.g. 8,000 ft — 2,400-ish meters — equivalent pressure).
It sounds to me as though someone had placed a tarpaulin over the shipping container after it was loaded onto the aircraft, and the equalization valves became blocked as the airplane descended from altitude, at which time the container would have needed air to flow back into the container in order to prevent the sides from becoming concave due to the pressure difference. The pressure difference is only about 4 psi (1/4 atmosphere), but over the area of each side of a large shipping container, that can add up to a few tons of force.