MT-135 / MT-135P Meteorological Sounding Rocket
Developed as an upper atmosphere observation rocket, an MT-135P meteorological sounding rocket was launched on a weekly basis by the Japan Meteorological Agency's meteorological observational station at Ryori on Japan's northeast coast. The observation lasted for 30 years ending with the last rocket No. 1119 launched on March 21, 2001. The acquired weather data was supplied worldwide through the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and used to improve weather forecast precision with the observed data from the meteorological satellite `Himawari.'