TOKYO (Sputnik) — The launch was originally scheduled for February 12, but postponed due to weather conditions.
16 February 2016, 08:48 GMT
The satellite will be put into orbit on board the H-IIA launch vehicle from the Japanese southern Tanegashima Space Center.
The joint project of the Japanese Mitsubishi Heavy Industries engineering company and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is aimed at collecting data on the formation of galaxy, as well as on space and time around black holes. The satellite is expected to gather data for three years, maintaining orbit near the equator.
Japan has already launched five ASTRO-H satellites.
