Japan Launches New Spy Satellite
Sep 26th, 2011 | By erico_yu | Category: Events, Japan, Military Spending, Military-Industrial Complex, North Korea, Regional SecurityPosted on Sep 26th
TOKYO – Japan launched a new spy satellite into orbit Sept. 23, officials said, in its latest effort to beef up surveillance against the threat of North Korean missiles.
The Japanese H-2A rocket carrying a new information-gathering optical satellite lifted off at 1:36 pm (0436 GMT) from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan.
Japan currently has three information-gathering satellites in orbit and the latest satellite will replace one of them which has passed its use-by date. The three are all optical satellites, which can capture images in daylight and in clear weather. In the next two years, Japan plans to launch two radar satellites, which can capture images at night and in cloudy weather.
To read the whole article at the Defense News
