Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




SPACEWAR
Japan launches new spy satellite
by Staff Writers
Tokyo (AFP) Dec 12, 2011


Japan launched a new spy satellite into orbit Monday amid concerns over North Korea's missile programme and to monitor natural disasters in the region, officials said.

The Japanese H-2A rocket carrying an information-gathering radar satellite lifted off at 10:21 am (0121 GMT) from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan.

"The rocket was launched successfully," said Toshiyuki Miura, a spokesman for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which built the satellite and worked on the launch with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

"The satellite was separated into orbit around the Earth later," Miura added.

The government decided to build an intelligence-gathering system after North Korea launched a missile in 1998 that flew over the Japanese archipelago and into the Pacific, shocking many in Japan.

In defiance of international pressure, North Korea launched what was believed to be a three-stage Taepodong-2 missile in April 2009, with an estimated range of 6,700 kilometres (4,100 miles).

Japan has three operating optical satellites. Two radar ones were successfully placed into orbit but both broke down later. Another optical satellite was launched in September but is not yet functioning.

Demand for land surveillance grew meanwhile after Japan's March 11 quake and tsunami, which killed some 20,000 people and crippled cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, northeast of Tokyo, causing reactor meltdowns.

"The project is aimed at boosting security and monitoring land in case of sizable natural disasters like the one in March," a government official said, adding that the current three satellites were used to track the March calamity.

"If everything goes smoothly, it will be the first radar satellite under the programme," the official said. "With the radar satellite, we can introduce wider usage of the system."

Radar satellites are able to capture images at night and in cloudy weather, something that optical satellites cannot.

The latest satellite cost some 39.8 billion yen ($512 million) to develop, while the launch cost about 10.3 billion yen, Kyodo News reported.

JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy had originally planned to launch the satellite on December 11 but it was postponed due to bad weather.

.


Related Links
Military Space News at SpaceWar.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








SPACEWAR
Israel spy satellite to double precision: TV
Jerusalem (AFP) Oct 5, 2011
Israel is to launch a spy satellite which will double the resolution of its images, keeping a close watch on Iran, Channel 10 television reported on Wednesday. It said the satellite, built by Israeli firm Elbit and due for launch soon, would be able to take high resolution images from an altitude of 600 kilometres (360 miles). The main task would be to keep a watch on Iran's controversia ... read more


SPACEWAR
Peres promotes Israeli moon probe

Hundreds of NASA's moon rocks missing: audit

Schafer Corp Signs Licensing Agreement with MoonDust Technologies

Russia wants to focus on Moon if Mars mission fails

SPACEWAR
System could be 'brain' for Mars rovers

Life possible on 'large parts' of Mars: study

Opportunity to Stop and Study Rocks

Russia could join ExoMars as full partner

SPACEWAR
TASC Wins $133.9 Million NASA Contract

US mulls tax break for space 'burials'

Ball Aerospace Delivers Orion Phased Array Antenna EDUs

Voyager Hits New Region at Solar System Edge

SPACEWAR
Two and a Half Men for Shenzhou

China honors its 'father' of space efforts

Philatelic Cover Reveals the secret names of second Taikonaut team

First Crew for Tiangong

SPACEWAR
ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers Ready For Launch To ISS

Astronaut TJ Creamer Learns Space Station Science From the Ground Up

FLEX-ible Insight Into Flame Behavior

Growing Knowledge in Space

SPACEWAR
AMOS-5 Communications Satellite Successfully Launched

Second Arianespace Soyuz rolled out for launch at Spaceport Kourou

O3b signs agreement with Arianespace for third Soyuz launch

NASA Announces Launch Date and Milestones for Spacex Flight

SPACEWAR
Giant Super-Earths Made Of Diamond Are Possible

New Planet Kepler-21b discovery a partnership of both space and ground-based observations

Astronomers Find Goldilocks Planet and Others

The Habitable Exoplanets Catalog, a new online database of habitable worlds

SPACEWAR
Researchers find best routes to self-assembling 3D shapes

Avatars develop real world skills

Tablets, e=readers closing book on ink-and-paper era

New insights into how the brain reconstructs the third dimension




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement