Japan successfully launches satellites to complete spy system

The government successfully launched an H-2A rocket to carry a second radar satellite and an experimental third optical satellite into space Saturday from a launch site in Kagoshima Prefecture to complete its spy system for full global coverage. The two satellites were placed into orbit about 20 minutes after the rocket's launch at 1:40 p.m., the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said.

If completed with the second radar functioning, the four-satellite system will enable the photographing of any point on Earth once a day for intelligence gathering with two sets of a radar satellite and an optical satellite, it said. In the spy project, two optical satellites and one radar satellite have already been placed into orbit. They are reportedly capable of detecting objects as small as about 1 meter.