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Class: Materials. Nation: Japan.

At first thought not to have reached orbit. Later reentry vehicle was discovered in Ghana having reentered and deployed its parachute on Jan 15.


Express 1 Chronology
  • 1995 January 15 - Express 1 - Launch Site: Kagoshima. Launch Complex: M. Launch Vehicle: Mu. FAILURE: Failure of second stage attitude control system.
    At first thought not to have reached orbit. Later the re-entry vehicle was discovered in Ghana having reentered and deployed its parachute on January 15. At T+103 sec, during the second stage burn, the vehicle veered off course. The payload service module entered a 110 x 250 km x 33 degree orbit, instead of the intended 270 x 380 km and re-entered on its second orbit. The re-entry capsule was found later in Ghana. A failure of the second stage attitude control system was blamed, although it was considered likely that the payload was too heavy for the vehicle, being twice the mass of earlier MU-3S payloads.


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