The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has launched a satellite to study the Van Allen radiation belts in the Earth's inner magnetosphere.
The Exploration of Energization and Radiation in Geospace (ERG) spacecraft was launched from the Uchinoura Space Center, Japan, aboard an Epsilon rocket.
Around 13min and 27s after lift-off, the rocket was confirmed to be separated from ERG.
Confirming that the Santiago Ground Station in Chile has already received signals from ERG, JAXA also noted that the Van Allen radiation belts have trapped significant numbers of energetic charged particles.
However, JAXA scientists believe that these particles can potentially harm the computer systems installed aboard satellites and pose a radiation threat to astronauts, reported Space.com.
Equipped with nine different instruments, ERG aims to reveal the acceleration and creation of high-energy electrons.
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By GlobalDataDesigned to be valid for a year, the spacecraft will observe the electrons and ions near the equatorial plane in geospace, which is where they are reportedly accelerating.
