Japan launches rocket carrying new intelligence-gathering satellite

+

TANEGASHIMA, Japan, Nov. 28 Kyodo -
Japan successfully put into orbit Saturday the government's latest
intelligence-gathering satellite to replace an earlier model, the Japanese
Aerospace Exploration Agency said.
The optical satellite was launched on an H-2A rocket from Tanegashima Space
Center in Kagoshima Prefecture by JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
The new satellite, the third of its kind, will replace the first model with a
designed lifetime of about five years that was put into orbit in March 2003,
according to officials involved with the project.
While the older models were capable of distinguishing objects on the Earth's
surface with a resolution of around 1 meter, the new model has improved the
resolution to about several tens of centimeters, the officials said.
The new satellite will undergo a performance trial for about three months
before starting full-fledged operations, they said.
Japan currently operates two optical satellites and a radar satellite, and the
government is planning to add another radar satellite by March 2013 for a
four-satellite system so that it will be able to film designated places on the
Earth at least once a day.
The satellite launched Saturday cost about 48.7 billion yen for research and
development and around 9.4 billion yen for manufacturing and launch, according
to the officials.
==Kyodo