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Japan to launch

test rocket for

space station

TOKYO: Japan plans to launch a test rocket this week to conduct a new series of experiments for the proposed international space station Freedom, scheduled to be completed by the end of the decade.

The launch on Friday will be the fourth for the Takesaki rocket, which follows a parabolic flight path 100 kilometres or more above the earth to achieve microgravity for six minutes before splashing down off the coast of Japan.

Five experiments are planned in the lastes mission, including a semiconductor experiment by Japanese electronics giant NEC Corporation aimed at improving the quality of silicon used to manufacture chips.

Another experiment by Japanese defence contractor Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. Aims to determine the optimal crystal-growing conditions for lead-tin telluride, a promising material used in the infrared elements of lasers to measure pollutants such as nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide.

The three other experiments on solution growth, fluid dynamics and metal alloys are being carried out by Japanese universities.

The National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) launched its first Takesaki rocket in 1991 as part of a programme to promote new technologies in space. The second launch was in 1992 and the third in 1993.-AFP