On September 23, 2011 at 04:36 UTC the H-2A / 202 rocket-carrier was launched from Tanegashima Space Center, Japan's primary launching base off the southern coast of the main islands. The rocket orbited the IGS O-4 spy satellite.
The secret satellite, built by Mitsubishi Electric Corp., is circling Earth in a sun-synchronous orbit with an altitude of more than 300 miles. The spacecraft was a more than $500 million payload outfitted with an optical camera and telescope to supply imagery to the Japanese government for intelligence, defense and civilian remote sensing applications. The spacecraft will become an operational member of Japan's optical spy satellite fleet.
