APOGEE STAFF
Japan has added to its space surveillance network with the launch of a satellite that monitors North Korean missile sites and natural disasters.
The satellite was lifted into low Earth orbit in January 2024 on a Japanese H-2A rocket from Tanegashima Space Center, according to a news release from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., which co-developed the rocket with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
Japan operates six surveillance satellites and is in the process of replacing the H-2A, its workhorse of two decades, with the more cost-efficient H3. The H3 was successfully test-launched in February 2024 after a failed inaugural attempt a year earlier. The new rocket is scheduled to carry about 20 satellites and probes into space by 2030, Reuters reported.
The January launch came as other Asian nations also were adding to their space capabilities. North Korea orbited its first spy satellite in November. Observers were surprised that unlike two previous North Korean satellites, this one showed evidence of maneuverability and onboard propulsion, the Netherlands security blog SatTrackCam Leiden reported. North Korea planned to launch three more spy satellites in 2024, state media reported. A launch in May failed when a new rocket engine, apparently developed in Russia, exploded shortly after liftoff, Reuters reported. South Korea launched its first reconnaissance satellite in December 2023 and its second in April.
A relatively small player in space by number of launches, Japan is accelerating its progress, in part, to counter threats from North Korea and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). As of January 2022, the PRC’s fleet of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellites numbered more than 250 systems, second only to the United States and nearly double its systems in 2018, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency reported.