On March 17, 2017 at 01:20 UTC the Japanese H-2A rocket-carrier was launched from Tanegashima Cosmodrome situated at the island located 115 km south of Kyushu. Kyushu is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. The rocket orbited the “IGS Radar-5” radar reconnaissance satellite. Japanese government officials have not disclosed the exact capabilities of the radar spy satellite, but the radar instrument aboard the surveillance orbiter can likely resolve objects on the ground as small as a meter in size. The so-called Information Gathering Satellite, named IGS Radar 5, is Japan’s sixth radar reconnaissance satellite. Japan also flies spy satellites with electro-optical cameras, which offer sharper imagery but only in daytime and when skies are clear.