Japan's H2A Rocket Successfully Fired, Tasked With Gathering North Korean Intelligence And Weather Data

Photo by Romeeo A. on Unsplash

JAKARTA - Japan has successfully launched a rocket carrying a government-general radar satellite to increase disaster response and monitor developments at North Korea's military locations.

The H2A No. 46 rocket, operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, took off from the Tanegashima Space Center at 10:50 am in the southwest of Kagoshima prefecture, Thursday 26 January reported by Japan Today.

Previously, the launch was delayed by one day due to bad weather. The satellite is entering a planned orbit, said Mitsubishi Heavy.

The radar satellite can capture images on land at night, as well as during bad weather conditions. This can be used to convey data in the event of a natural disaster, according to the Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center, which assigns Mitsubishi Heavy for the launch.

Thursday's launch of the H2A rocket was the 40th successive explosion since the H2A No. 7 rocket in 2005.

The latest radar satellite costs 51.2 billion yen for development and 11.4 billion yen for launch, according to the Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center.

The liquid-fuel H2A rocket is 53 meters long and has a diameter of 4 meters.

On February 13, Mitsubishi Heavy is scheduled to launch its new flagship H3 rocket, which was jointly developed with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The rocket is the successor to the H2A rocket.