Rocket Girl

Rocket Girl is a London-based independent record label. The label has released records by Robin Guthrie,Pieter Nooten,God Is an Astronaut,Ulrich Schnauss,A Place to Bury Strangers,Bell Gardens among others.

History

Before launching Rocket Girl in 1997, Vinita Joshi had been actively involved in running both Cheree Records and Ché Trading, releasing tracks by artists such as The Telescopes, The Tindersticks, Bark Psychosis and Disco Inferno. Ché Trading, an offshoot label co-founded by Vinita Joshi and Nick Allport, was responsible for releasing the music of Essex Etherealists, Disco Inferno, and had a roster that also included the Tindersticks, Backwater, Füxa, and Slipstream. Ché Trading had two Top 40 hit singles by Lilys (A Nanny In Manhattan) and Urusei Yatsura (Hello Tiger). Vinita has also been involved with a number of other record labels throughout the years, namely Bella Union and One Little Indian.

Launch

In 1997, Rocket Girl's first release was a split single by the band Silver Apples (I have known Love) and Windy & Carl (Fractal Flow). The label continued to grow with a diverse roster and encouraged cross-pollination between its artists, most notably the 1998 7" single collaboration between Low, Transient Waves & Piano Magic (Sleep at the Bottom). Hot on the heels of the Silver Apples & Windy & Carl’s 7", 1998 also saw the release of Rocket Girl's first full-length album ‘A Tribute to Spacemen 3’, which was a celebration of the pioneers of drone, with offerings from Bowery Electric, Mogwai, Arab Strap, Piano Magic and Low, among others. Later, in 2000, Rocket Girl released the EP 'Add N to Fu(x)a'. After just four years following its launch, Rocket Girl was credited for the launch of "intriguing lo-fi classics" Late in 2010 the label signed the London-based band Drugstore.

Rocket Girls

Rocket Girls (ロケットガール, Roketto Gāru) is a light novel written by Hōsuke Nojiri. Set in the Solomon Islands, it follows the exploits of high-school girl Yukari Morita, who is pressed into service as an astronaut by the Solomon Space Association when it is unable to build a rocket that can lift the weight of an adult male.

Rocket Girls is adapted as a 12-episode anime television series that began airing in February 2007. It was produced with the assistance of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, which included astronaut Naoko Yamazaki voicing herself in Episode 7.

Spacecraft

LS-5 Rocket

The LS-5 is a multistage expendable rocket used by the Solomon Space Association (SSA) to launch the first Japan manned spaceflight. Although older than the LS-7, this rocket has had more successful launches. This rocket was also used to test the new hybrid-fuel. Three rockets of this type has been constructed so far. Their Command Module (CM) have been called Tanpopo and Coconut.

LS-7 Rocket