Japan rolls out plans to launch 18 satellites through 2007
Posted on: Tuesday, 19 August 2003, 06:00 CDT
TOKYO (AP) -- Japan plans to launch 18 earth orbiters, including four spy satellites, through 2007 under a newly arrayed schedule of rockets shots, an official said Tuesday.
The first of the spy satellites, partly envisioned as a way to keep tabs on North Korea, is scheduled for launch next month, with others slated for 2004, 2005 and 2006.
The schedule forms the basis for space exploration policy after the nation's three aerospace agencies merge this October into the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, said Shigekazu Matsura, deputy director of space development at the ministry of science and education.
Space exploration is now handled piecemeal by the National Space Development Agency, the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science and the National Aerospace Laboratory.
The 18 satellites scheduled for launch through 2007 will be carried into space by either Japan's flagship H-2A rocket or the smaller M-5 rocket, Matsura said.
Among the planned missions: A moon observation satellite, a sun observation satellite, two star observation satellites, a broadband Internet satellite, a greenhouse gas monitoring satellite, a weather satellite and an orbiter to monitor rainfall.
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