About Kibo

Checkout and validation at NASA

Since Kibo will be launched by a Space Shuttle, all Kibo elements gathered in Tsukuba Space Center (TKSC) will be transferred to Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida, USA, where final checkout for launch will be conducted.

JAXA has a launch site on Tanegashima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, where final checkouts of rockets or satellites are conducted just before launch. Although Kibo will be launched from KSC in the US, and not from Tanegashima Island, tasks similar to those in Tanegashima will be planned in KSC.

Since every possible test and verification is performed in Japan before Kibo elements are transported to KSC, the checkout planned at the launch site will mainly be to find damaged devices. However, to find damage, all devices have to be operated. Therefore, large volume of numerous checkout tasks will be conducted by bringing in many test devices used in Japan.

Both Kibo and most of the International Space Station (ISS) components will be launched from KSC by Space Shuttle missions. To accommodate final checkout for ISS components brought in from participating countries, a huge building has been built in KSC. Components which have completed checkout , will be brought to the launch pad in the ISS construction order and will be loaded into a Space Shuttle and launched.