Japanese Surveillance Satellites Launch in March

Mass media including Asahi reported Saturday that, for the first time, the Japanese government would launch two information-gathering satellites on March 28, which will surveil in and out the nation and Korea around the clock.

The satellites will be launched at Kakosima Tanekasima Space Center of the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), by utilizing the nation’s devoted rocket H2A. They will circulate the 400 to 600 km-high-orbit and gather information on the North Korean missile launching sites or illegal fishing vessels near the Japanese waters.

The Japanese mass media analyzed that the launch of the satellites may be intended to help the government catch the North’s move to go nuclear and launch missiles in the early stage, not to mention the primary purposes of the satellites to prepare for the national crisis management and natural adversities.

One of the Japanese surveillance satellites is equipped with an optical sensor capable of identifying objects as far as 1m on the ground and the other is equipped with compound radar capable of taking photos at night or under bad weather although it falls short of the former in terms of identification ability. The NASDA said, “The one with the optical sensor can identify what kinds of cars or trucks the objects are. We will launch two more satellites this summer.” So far, the Japanese government has been collecting information on North Korea with the help of the photos of the U.S. commercial satellites. After the 1998 experimental launch of Daepodong missile by the North, however, it has been pushing for the plan to launch its own surveillance satellite.

parkwj@donga.com