Japanese spy satellites launch to be delayed

Japanese spy satellites launch to be delayed

TOKYO, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) — The launch of two spy satellites will be delayed due to technical problems of an H-2A rocket, said the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) on Tuesday.

“Some additional work needs to be done on a solid rocket booster,” said a NASDA official.

The spy satellites, scheduled to blast off for Sept. 10 at the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, are equipped separately with an optical imaging detector and a radar imaging detector.

Japan already launched two similar ones in March.

The satellites are believed to serve to watch the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea following its launch of a rocket in 1998, which Japan claimed was a ballistic missile.