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Japan to launch first spy satellite soon
TOKYO (Reuters) -- Japan plans to launch its first spy satellites next month as tension runs high over North Korea's nuclear program and Pyongyang's insistence that it is free to launch ballistic missiles, a Japanese newspaper said. Up until now, Japan has lacked the technology to detect missile launches and has depended on the United States for information on regional security since the end of World War Two. The two satellites are set to be launched on March 28 from Japan's launch center on the southwestern island of Tanegashima, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) said. Another two could be launched as early as this summer. Orbiting at a height of 400-600 km (250-370 miles), they will carry out surveillance primarily of areas surrounding Japan. Officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Japan has developed two types of satellite, one carrying light sensors capable of detecting earth-bound objects of one meter in length and another with radar capable of operating at night or in poor weather, the Nikkei said on February 22. One of each type is due to be launched in March. Japan's drive to launch its own spy satellites was prompted by the shock test launch by North Korea in August 1998 of a three-stage Taepodong-1 missile over Japan, which demonstrated that major population areas including Tokyo were within the estimated 1,000-km (600-mile) range of the missile. At the time of the launch, Japan was forced to rely on U.S. data. Pyongyang later said it would not carry out further testing, but said late last year the moratorium was no longer in effect. President George W. Bush, preparing for a possible war with Iraq, has repeatedly said the United States had no intention of attacking North Korea, which Bush had branded part of an "axis of evil" along with Iraq and Iran. But Bush has also said all options were open to end a stand-off over the North's suspected nuclear weapons program, while Pyongyang has warned of "horrible nuclear disasters" should the United States attack. Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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