Uploaded December 2016 | Updated September 2026, 5 days ago

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Video Credit: JAXA
Detailed Mission Overview: spaceflight101.com/erg
Japan’s Enhanced Epsilon rocket thundered into the night skies over Kyushu Island on Tuesday, embarking on its debut mission to deliver the ERG Radiation Belt research spacecraft into a high-energy orbit around Earth to penetrate the Van Allen Belts for a detailed study of particle-wave interactions in Earth’s powerful magnetic field.

Epsilon provided an impressive show as it lit up its powerful first stage at 11:00 UTC, 20:00 local time and shot toward the sky under the loud rumble of the first of its three solid rocket motors tasked with powering the vehicle into orbit.