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H-IIA Guidance and Control System '"Go"

The Global Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory is continuing to move successfully toward launch. Programs have been run on the guidance and control system on the H-IIA launch vehicle to confirm that all devices for flight attitude control are working as expected. The one-hour launch window for the GPM Core Observatory opens at Feb. 27 at 1:37 p.m. EST (Feb. 28 at 3:37 a.m. JST).

Launch Preparations Proceed After Second Go/No Decision

The launch of the GPM Core Observatory is proceeding toward launch at Tanegashima Space Center, Japan. Final checks have been made for the operational conditions of the H-IIA launch vehicle, satellites, launch facilities, tracking and control systems, and weather conditions. The process of loading propellant, such as liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, into the rocket has begun. Terminal countdown operations also begun. Access to the launch pad is now restricted within a radius of 400 meters.

Waiting for Launch

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The Global Precipitation Measurement mission's Core Observatory is poised for launch from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tanegashima Space Center, scheduled for the afternoon of Feb. 27, 2014 (EST).

GPM is a joint venture between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The GPM Core Observatory will link data from a constellation of current and planned satellites to produce next-generation global measurements of rainfall and snowfall from space.

GPM's Launch Pad

GPM's Launch Pad
Image Caption
GPM's Launch Pad

Launch pad 1 is seen at the Tanegashima Space Center (TNSC) on Monday, Feb. 24, 2014 in Tanegashima, Japan. A Japanese H-IIA rocket carrying the NASA-Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory is planned for launch from pad 1 on Feb. 28, 2014. Once launched, the GPM spacecraft will collect information that unifies data from an international network of existing and future satellites to map global rainfall and snowfall every three hours. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

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