33496 - SOHLA 1

SOHLA 1, the Space Oriented Higashi-Osaka Leading Association exploratory satellite, was developed by a team of small and midsize companies in Higashi-Osaka, Osaka Prefecture. Students at Osaka Prefecture University, Osaka University and Ryukoku University provided technological support. The satellite is designed to observe lightning.

This one of seven microsatellites deployed as piggyback payloads to the IBUKI spacecraft. All of these spacecraft follow a similar roughly 660 km sun-synchronous orbit. Six of the small satellites were developed by universities and private-sector companies; the seventh is a technology demonstrator for JAXA.

Facts in Brief

Launch Date: 2009-01-23
Launch Vehicle: H-2A
Launch Site: Tanegashima, Japan