TOKYO - Japan launched an intelligence satellite Saturday from Tanegashima Space Centre in the Japanese prefecture of Kagoshima, a report said.
The JAXA, Japan’s national space agency, launched the satellite at 10.21 a.m. local time.
The satellite will reportedly be used to improve the monitoring activity on North Korea and watch for missile tests and military movements in that country, a Xinhua news agency report said.
The satellite will be equipped with digital cameras that are able to identify objects of about 60 cm in size from the space.
The satellite is the third of its kind and cost around $550 million to build.
Related News
Bangladesh plans to launch communication satelliteNovember 26th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh plans to launch its own satellite within a year, joining 50 other countries, including South Asian neighbours India and Pakistan, to ramp up its communications network. The cost of the programme will be between $150 million and $200 million, Post and Telecommunications Minister Raziuddin Ahmed Raju said Thursday.
Hundreds of icebergs split from Antarctic ice shelves float toward NZ; ships, sailors warnedNovember 24th, 2009 Icebergs head from Antarctica for New ZealandWELLINGTON, New Zealand — A flotilla of hundreds of icebergs that split off Antarctic ice shelves is drifting toward New Zealand and could pose a risk to ships in the south Pacific Ocean, officials said Tuesday. The nearest one, measuring about 30 yards (meters) tall, was 160 miles (260 kilometers) southeast of New Zealand's Stewart Island, Australian glaciologist Neal Young said.
Atlantis astronauts end third spacewalkNovember 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Two astronauts from the space shuttle Atlantis ended the mission's third and last spacewalk after successfully installing an oxygen tank on the outside of the International Space Station (ISS). The spacewalk on Monday lasted five hours and 42 minutes for astronauts Robert Satcher Jr and Randy Bresnik, who also performed other maintenance upgrades.
Spacewalkers work outside International Space StationNovember 20th, 2009 CAPE CANAVERAL - Two US astronauts left the safety of the International Space Station Thursday to install spare parts that will help it continue running smoothly in the future. Space shuttle Atlantis crew members Michael Foreman and Robert Satcher spent six hours and 37 minutes on the spacewalk.
Penguins, sea lions help map marine ecosystemNovember 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and BirdLife International have released the first-ever comprehensive atlas of the Patagonian Sea -- a globally important but poorly understood South American marine ecosystem. The atlas is based on hundreds of thousands of recordings of individual uplinks from satellite transmitters fitted on penguins, albatrosses, sea lions and other marine animals.
