Japan launches intelligence satellite

Japan says it successfully launched an intelligence satellite into orbit with the main mission of monitoring North Korean military facilities. Japan began launching similar satellites after the 1998 firing of a ballistic missile by North Korea, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. The launch using an H2A rocket took place Monday from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima prefecture. The radar satellite, which can detect objects on the ground even at night or through cloud cover, joins two optical satellites with powerful telescopic cameras. The H2A launch rockets have had 19 successful missions since their initial launch in 2001, and their success rate has reached 95 percent, considered a reliable record in the global space industry, the space center said.