Japan Delays Second Spy Satellite Launch To September 22

Dow Jones Newswires ^ | 08-29-030356ET | AP

[AdmSmith]

TOKYO (AP)--Japan's space agency announced Friday it has decided to postpone the launch of its second pair of spy satellites to late September to conduct additional preparatory work.

The rocket with the satellites aboard is now scheduled for launch on Sept. 22, instead of Sept. 10, according to an announcement by the Cabinet's Satellite Information Center.

Two spy satellites were successfully put into orbit by Japan for the first time in March.

The second launch had to be delayed because additional work needed to be done, according to the center. Officials refused to elaborate, but Japanese media have reported that the work was to be done on the rocket's booster.

The satellites are set to be launched atop Japan's domestically developed H-2A rocket.

Japan launched its first spy satellites on March 28 as part of a US$2 billion plan to monitor North Korea's missile and nuclear programs. The launch prompted an angry warning from the communist nation, which accused Japan of sparking a regional arms race.

Japan has had a long-standing policy of keeping its space program out of military missions. Officials say the spy satellites don't violate that policy because they pose no threat to foreign countries and will also be used to monitor natural disasters and weather patterns.

[AdmSmith]

The question is if the optics will work this time, earlier it did not.

[WoofDog123]

"Japan launched its first spy satellites on March 28 as part of a US$2 billion plan to monitor North Korea's missile and nuclear programs. The launch prompted an angry warning from the communist nation, which accused Japan of sparking a regional arms race. "

Orwell couldn't write doublespeak better than these guys. (NK/DPRK)

[spetznaz]

Officials say the spy satellites don't violate that policy because they pose no threat to foreign countries and will also be used to monitor natural disasters and weather patterns.

Yeah right! A spy satellite to 'monitor natural disasters and weather patterns.' Nice one.

Anyways it's nice to know ol' Nippon is taking measures to protect itself. Japan is surrounded by a whole slew of hostile/potentially hostile nations (big dogs like China which could pose an immensely serious threat in the future, and small dogs like N.Korea which launched a missile over Japan sometime in the past).

And Japan makes a great ally.