A Japanese rocket carrying a German asteroid probe was launched Wednesday, dpa cited the national space agency Jaxa as saying. The H-IIA rocket lifted off on schedule at 1:22 pm (0522 GMT) from the southern Japanese island of Tanegashima bearing the Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout, or MASCOT, made by the German Aerospace Center. The probe is due to rendezvous with asteroid 1999 JU3 in around four years' time.
