* Astronomy

Solar-B lifted off from Uchinoura, at the southern tip of Japan, at 0636 local time on Saturday (2136 GMT Friday).

"It will take two to three weeks to transfer the spacecraft into its so-called Sun-synchronous polar orbit. From this position, Solar-B will be able to observe the Sun without having any nights for eight months of the year" - Professor Tetsuya Watanabe, of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ).

As is customary on Japanese missions, the satellite will get a new name once it is ready to begin its work.

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SOLAR-B signal acquired by Santiago station.
All systems ok

The M-V rocket No.7 carrying the SolarB satellite was successfully launched from the Uchinoura Space Centre at 6:36 am(JST), Sep. 23, 2006.




Perth station in Australia has aquired the signal from SOLAR-B

75 seconds after liftoff.
The first stage has separated,
second stage burn.