(Associated Press via NewsEdge) Japan has launched its fourth spy satellite, stepping up its ability to gather intelligence from orbit and to keep a close eye on neighboring North Korea's nuclear program.
The satellite, along with a smaller test prototype, was launched from the country's space center on a remote southern Japanese island atop an H-2A rocket, the workhorse of Japan's space program.
Japanese space agency spokesman Satoki Kurokawa described the liftoff, which had been postponed three times because of poor weather, as a success. Television footage showed the rocket racing up through cloudy skies.
The launch of the radar satellite enhances a multibillion dollar, decade-old plan for Japan to have round-the-clock surveillance of the secretive North and other areas Japan wants to peer in on.
China is likely among those areas of interest. Japan's Defense Agency lists Chinese military expansion as a top security concern, and the two nations have rival claims to waters around several disputed islands in the East China Sea.
However, weaknesses in the satellites' capabilities have led to criticism that the program is a waste of money and, with better data available on the commercial market that Japan will continue to be dependent on Washington for its core intelligence.
The launch also comes just a month after China demonstrated its ability to shoot satellites out of orbit with ground-based missiles.
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