Japan successfully launches M-5 rocket, satellite into orbit

Japan on Sunday successfully launched a
rocket carrying X-ray telescopes into Earth's orbit to
examine black holes and galaxies, the country's space
agency said.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, staged a live
Web telecast of the M-5 rocket being shot into a cloudy sky
from Uchinoura, 985 kilometers (620 miles) southwest of
Tokyo.
Three minutes after takeoff, the 6.5-meter-(21-foot-)long
satellite jettisoned its main rocket booster, which fell
back to Earth. JAXA later said in a statement that the
Astro-EII satellite had reached its target orbit about 560
kilometers (348 miles) above the planet's surface.
It was the first liftoff for Japan's space program since
the February launch of the H-2A rocket.
--SP
1106 Local Time
0806 GMT