Exposure apparatus, manufacturing method of flat-panel display, device manufacturing method, and exposure method

An exposure method of relatively moving an object supported in a noncontact manner by a support section, with respect to an optical system, and performing scanning exposure with respect to the object, the method comprising:

• holding a part of the object at a first position located above the support section, by a first holding section;
• relatively moving a second holding section holding another part of the object located at the first position and held by the first holding section, from below the object along a direction intersecting a vertical direction, and releasing the holding of the object by the first holding section;
• and
• moving the second holding section that holds the object, to a second position where the object is to be supported in a noncontact manner by the support section, wherein
• in the moving, the object supported in a noncontact manner is relatively moved with respect to the optical system by the second holding section, in the scanning exposure.

An exposure method of relatively moving an object supported in a noncontact manner by a support section, with respect to an optical system in a scanning direction, and performing scanning exposure with respect to the object, the method comprising:

• holding the object located at a first position above the support section, by a holding section;
• and
• moving the holding section that holds the object, from the first position to a second position where the object is to be supported in a noncontact manner by the support section;
• and
• relatively moving the holding section that holds the object with respect to the support section in the scanning direction at a time of the scanning exposure.