TOKYO — Japan launched a defense satellite Monday aimed at speedier military operations and communication on a new flagship H3 rocket and successfully placed it into orbit, as the country seeks to build up its military capability amid growing tension in the region.
The East Asian country is accelerating its military buildup under a 2022 security strategy that calls for Japanese troops to play a greater role in regional defense amid rising tension from China, North Korea and Russia.
The H3 No. 4 rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center on a southwestern Japanese island. Everything went as planned and the satellite was successfully put into a targeted orbit, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, announced.
The rocket was carrying Kirameki No. 3, a Defense Ministry satellite that uses X-band communication for information and data sharing, as well as military operations and command.
X-band satellites are less affected by weather conditions and can support stable communication. Kirameki No. 3 follows two earlier X-band satellites already in operation to meet Japan's growing military communication demands and enhance its satellite operations.
Maj. Gen. Yasuhiro Kato, the Joint Staff Systems Department chief, told an online joint news conference from Tanegashima that the triple X-band communication satellite system would enable high-speed, large-capacity data transmission and communication across Japan's Ground, Maritime and Air Self-Defense Forces, as well as with units deployed overseas on peacekeeping missions or exercises.
''It will further contribute to Japan's national security and the operational capacity of the Self-Defense Forces,'' Kato said.
Ippei Kikuta, a defense ministry acquisition agency official, said Kirameki No. 3 will start operations by the end of March after being shifted to a designated geostationary orbit above Japan and tested, joining forces with the two other X-band satellites, Kirameki No. 1 and No. 2, which are in undisclosed locations.
