Japan already has four reconnaissance satellites in orbit now, but they are formally under the control of the national space agency, which is a civilian agency.
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Japan to Launch Military Spy Satellites
The Japanese parliament has passed a law allowing the creation of a group of military satellites under the direct control of the country’s defense ministry. The stated purpose of the satellites will be to monitor threats presented by North Korea, but it looks as though the Japanese will keep an equally close eye on China and Russia. The law repeals a 1969 parliamentary resolution that restricted the country’s space program to “peaceful goals.” The new law redefines “nonmilitary use” as not placing offensive weapons in orbit.
Japan already has four reconnaissance satellites in orbit now, but they are formally under the control of the national space agency, which is a civilian agency. The satellites are not powerful and can locate objects only within 1 km. and they fly over the areas of interest to Japan only once a day. The new satellites will have an accuracy of 50 cm. and will be part of the country’s new missile defense system. Now Japan is completely dependent on the United States for information of that nature.
Japan revealed its interest in China this week when it released satellite photographs of the areas of its continental neighbor that had been devastated by recent earthquakes. Informed sources say that among Japan’s interests in Russia are the graveyards of outdated Soviet nuclear subs, which could become a source of radioactive pollution of the Pacific Ocean, and the ecological condition of Siberia, which has an impact on the entire region. It is known that Japanese JAL airlines Tokyo-Moscow-Western Europe passenger flights have been collecting information about the gigantic fires in the Russian taiga since 2003, because Japan considers them one of the causes of global warming.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 23, 2008
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