21:58 UTC The launch vehicle, a H-IIA rocket, took off from the Tanegashima space centre in southern Japan on schedule at 21:58 UTC, three days after its original launch was postponed by bad weather.
After the first-time combustion of the second stage engine was cut off, three small Cubesats (secondary payload) on the J-POD (WASEDA-SAT2, KSAT, and Negai*”) were separated at 22:13 UTC. After the second cutoff of the second stage engine, the AKATSUKI was injected into the Venus transfer orbit.
The H-IIA continued its coast flight and separated IKAROS and UNITEC-1 from the Payload Attach Fitting (PAF900M, the PAF primarily for the main payload, AKATSUKI.)