2nd LD: Japan launches backup intelligence satellite

Japan on Sunday launched a backup information gathering satellite (IGS) with a radar reconnaissance payload for the Japanese government, the country's first launch of this year.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.-- Japan's space agency and the commercial operator of the H-2A rocket-- launched the spy satellite aboard a H-2A rocket at 10:21 a.m. (0121 GMT) on Sunday from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan's southwestern Kagoshima prefecture.

The launch was supposed to take off on Jan.29, but was delayed due to adverse weather conditions.

The information gathering satellite is equipped with a radar spy instrument capable of peering through clouds, darkness and camouflage to obtain high-resolution imagery of Earth's surface.

The exact capabilities of the satellite are kept secret by the Japanese government.

Intelligence satellites are believed to be employed to monitor ground surfaces to gain information related to national security and disasters.

Information obtained and images captured by the satellites are subject to a law enacted last year to enable the Japanese government to designate information it deems sensitive as state secrets, according to Kyodo news agency.

Operated by Japan's Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center, which reports directly to the government's executive leadership, the country's IGS program consists of optical and radar imaging spacecraft.

The satellite launched on Sunday is the sixth radar satellite and the 13th overall for IGS, including two prototype optical satellites, since the country's first two IGS satellites were launched in 2003. Endi