Information Gathering Satellite (情報収集衛星, Jōhō Shūshū Eisei) are the satellites of the Japanese spy satellite program. It was started as a response to the 1998 North Korean missile test over Japan. The satellite program's main mission is to provide early warning of impending hostile launches in the region. This program is under the direct control of the cabinet. All Information Gathering Satellites have been launched by H-IIA rockets from the Tanegashima Space Center.

History

On 28 March 2003, presumably partly in response to North Korea's launch of a Taepodong-1 missile over Japan in 1998, and partly to provide a source of satellite images other than through cooperation with the US, where the US charged roughly US$10,000 for each satellite image, Japan launched a radar and an optical spy satellite, officially known as IGS 1A and IGS 1B.[1] These satellites follow one another at 37-minute separation in a 492 km orbit, which passes over Pyongyang at 11:22 each day, according to observations collected on the satellite watching mailing list.

The program suffered a setback when Japan lost the second pair of satellites because of an H-IIA launch failure on 29 November 2003.[2]

Except the satellite which failed in launching, a second optical surveillance satellite IGS 3A was launched on 11 September 2006.[3]

A third optical satellite IGS 4A and a second radar satellite IGS 4B were launched on 24 February 2007. IGS 4A is a more advanced and experimental optical satellite.[4]

A fourth optical satellite IGS 5A was launched on 28 November 2009. This satellite has a higher resolution than the previous generations.[5]

Late March 2007, the first SAR satellite in the series, IGS 1B, suffered a critical power failure.[6]·[7] The satellite has since been observed to steadily come down and was clearly no longer under control.[8] An uncontrolled re-entry of this satellite occurred on 26 July 2012.[9] Since summer 2010, another of the SAR satellites, IGS 4B has also been unable to carry out its monitoring functions.[10]

On 9 February 2020, Japan launched IGS-Optical 7 reconnaissance satellite from the Tanegashima Space Center aboard an H-2A rocket. The launch had been delayed by 12-days due to a nitrogen leak, located within a system that provided conditioned air to the rocket, which was discovered sometime before the countdown to launch was aborted on 27 January. Following the discovery of the leak, the rocket was returned to its vertical assembly building, where it underwent repairs. Following the completion of the repairs, the rocket was rolled back out to Launch Pad No. 1 on 7 February, before the scheduled second launch attempt.[11]

List of launches

Launch Date (UTC)NORAD DesignationJapanese Government DesignationSensor TypeNORAD IDInternational codeStatusGenerationBelieved ResolutionInitial Orbital ParameterVehicleResult
28 March 2003IGS 1AIGS-Optical 1Optical276982003-009ARetired1st generation of opticalPanchromatic sensor:
About 1 m (mono)
Multi-spectral sensor:
About 5 m (color)		486–491 km, 97.3°, 94.4 minH2A 2024Success
IGS 1BIGS-Radar 1SAR276992003-009BRetired [6]1st generation of SARAbout 1~3 m
29 November 2003N/ANameless for launching failureOpticalN/AN/AN/A1st generation of opticalPanchromatic sensor:
About 1 m (mono)
Multi-spectral sensor:
About 5 m (color)		N/AH2A 2024Failure
N/ANameless for launching failureSARN/AN/AN/A1st generation of SARAbout 1~3 m
11 September 2006IGS 3AIGS-Optical 2Optical293932006-037ARetired2nd generation of optical
(Improved type)		1 m478–479 km, 97.4°, 94.2 minH2A 202Success
24 February 2007IGS 4AIGS-Optical 3VOptical305862007-005ARetired3rd generation of optical
(Largely improved type)		About 60 cm481–494 km, 97.2°, 94.4 minH2A 2024Success
IGS 4BIGS-Radar 2SAR305872007-005BRetired [10]2nd generation of SAR
(Improved type)		1 m
28 November 2009IGS 5AIGS-Optical 3Optical361042009-066ARetired [12]3rd generation of optical
(Largely improved type)		About 60 cmUnknownH2A 202Success
22 September 2011IGS 6AIGS-Optical 4Optical378132011-050ARetired4th generation of opticalAbout 60 cmUnknownH2A 202Success
12 December 2011IGS 7AIGS-Radar 3SAR379542011-075AOperational3rd generation of SARAbout 1 mUnknownH2A 202Success
27 January 2013IGS 8AIGS-Radar 4SAR390612013-002AOperational3rd generation of SARAbout 1 mUnknownH2A 202Success
IGS 8BIGS-Optical 5VOptical390622013-002BRetired5th generation of optical40 cm
1 February 2015IGS 9AIGS-Radar SpareSAR403812015-004AOperational3rd generation of SARAbout 1 mUnknownH2A 202Success
26 March 2015IGS O-5IGS-Optical 5Optical405382015-015AOperational5th generation of optical30 cm [13] or 40 cm [14]UnknownH2A 202Success
17 March 2017IGS R-5IGS-Radar 5SAR420722017-015AOperational4th generation of SAR50 cm [15]UnknownH2A 202Success
27 February 2018 [16]IGS O-6IGS-Optical 6Optical432232018-021AOperationalUnknownH2A 202Success
12 June 2018IGS R-6IGS-Radar 6SAR434952018-052AOperationalUnknownH2A 202Success
9 February 2020 [17]IGS O-7IGS-Optical 7Optical451652020-009AOperationalHigher performance than 30 cm[18]UnknownH2A 202Success
26 January 2023 [19]IGS R-7IGS-Radar 7SAR553292023-012ATestingUnknownH2A 202Success
12 January 2024[20]IGS O-8IGS-Optical 8OpticalTestingUnknownH2A 202Success

References

  1. ↑ "Analysis: Japan's spy satellites". News article. BBC News. 28 March 2003. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  2. ↑ "Japanese launch fails". News article. Spaceflight Now. 29 November 2003. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  3. ↑ "Japan launches new spy satellite". News article. BBC News. 11 September 2006. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  4. ↑ "Japanese rocket puts spy spacecraft into orbit". News article. Spaceflight Now. 24 February 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  5. ↑ "Japan launches spy satellite under veil of secrecy". News article. Spaceflight Now. 28 November 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  6. 1 2 "Japanese Spy Satellite Suffers Critical Power Failure". News article. SPACE WAR. 27 March 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  7. ↑ "Japanese Spy Satellite Suffers Critical Power Failure". News article. Space War. 27 March 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  8. ↑ "An Update on IGS 1B". SatTrackCam Leiden. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  9. ↑ "The re-entry of IGS 1B on 26 July 2012". SatTrackCam Leiden. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  10. 1 2 "Govt to build backup intel satellite". News article. THE DAILY YOMIURI. 10 October 2010. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  11. ↑ https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/02/09/h-2a-f41-launch/ - 9 February 2020
  12. ↑ 情報収集衛星光学3号機の運用終了について (PDF). Cabinet Secretariat. 15 September 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  13. ↑ 「北」監視能力の向上期待　情報収集衛星打ち上げ成功 Sankei 26 March 2015
  14. ↑ H2Aロケット28号機打ち上げ成功　情報収集衛星搭載 26 March 2015
  15. ↑ 情報収集衛星打ち上げ成功　物体識別能力は従来の約2倍、夜間監視力が向上 Sankei, 17 March 2017
  16. ↑ Japanese H-IIA launches IGS Optical 6 satellite. William Graham, NASASpaceflight. 26 February 2018.
  17. ↑ https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/ - 8 February 2020
  18. ↑ 情報収集衛星、打ち上げ成功 北朝鮮などを監視 Archived 9 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine Sankei Shimbun. 9 February 2020.
  19. ↑ H-IIAロケット46号機による情報収集衛星レーダ7号機の打上げ結果について [Launch Results of Information Gathering Satellite Radar No. 7 by H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 46] (in Japanese). Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. 26 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  20. ↑ H-IIAロケット48号機による情報収集衛星光学8号機の打上げ結果について [About the launch results of information gathering satellite Optical No. 8 by H-IIA rocket No. 48] (in Japanese). Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
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