A Japanese radar satellite took flight on Wednesday evening (Jan. 25), adding to the nation’s reconnaissance capabilities.
An H-IIA rocket topped with the IGS (Intelligence Gathering Satellite) Radar 7 spacecraft lifted off from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center Wednesday (Jan. 25) at 8:49 p.m. EST (0149 GMT and 10:49 a.m. local Japan time on Jan. 26).
According to EverydayAstronaut.com (opens in new tab), IGS Radar 7 is headed toward sun-synchronous orbit, a polar path in which satellites zoom over patches of Earth at the same local solar time each day. A sun-synchronous orbit (opens in new tab) provides consistent lighting conditions over time and is therefore particularly favored by spy and weather satellites.
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IGS Radar 7 will be operated by the Cabinet Satellite Information Center (CSICE), which is part of Japan’s Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, as EverydayAstronaut.com noted.
“Not much is known about this specific satellite; however, CSICE has stated that the IGS series of satellites is used for gathering information necessary to national security, as well as crisis management,” the outlet wrote in a mission description.
Wednesday’s launch was the first of the year for Japan. The nation conducted only one orbital launch in 2022, and that flight, in October, was a failure.
The October 2022 mission involved Epsilon, a 78-foot-tall (24 meters) rocket that had flown just five times previously. (Each of those prior missions was successful.) The H-IIA, which is operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, is much bigger and has far more spaceflight experience.
The 174-foot-tall (53 m) H-IIA has now flown 45 times to date and has failed just once, in November 2003. The powerful rocket has lofted some high-profile payloads since coming online in 2001, including Japan’s asteroid-sampling Hayabusa2 spacecraft and the Hope Mars orbiter, the United Arab Emirates’ first-ever interplanetary mission.
Mike Wall is the author of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).
