IGS-Radar 4

Spacecraft nº:

Japanese spacecraft nº: 182

Launch data:

Spacecraft data:

Description:

• The IGS-Radar 3 and 4 (Intelligence Gathering Satellite), are the second generation of Japanese radar reconnaisance satellites. The satellite are operated by the Cabinet Satellite Information Center. The satellite serves both Japan's national defense and civil natural disaster monitoring.
• The radar-equipped satellite can take pictures of the ground day-and-night and in all weather conditions.

Mission details:

• H-2A rocket F22 was launched from Tanegashima on Jan 27, 2013 carrying two intelligence payloads in the 'Joho Shushu Eisei' (Information Gathering Satellite) series. The top payload is 'JSE Reda 4-goki' (IGS Radar No. 4) carrying a synthetic aperture radar payload. The lower payload is 'Jissho eisei' (Demo Satellite), believed to be an optical imaging payload.
• Liftoff occurred at 1:40 p.m. local time in Japan, and the rocket pitched southeast from Tanegashima before turning south for its ascent to orbit over the Pacific Ocean.
• The 187-foot-tall launcher soared into an overcast sky on the power of its two solid rocket boosters and a hydrogen-fueled main engine, rapidly vanishing into clouds and leaving a billowing exhaust plume and booming noise in its wake.
• The H-2A rocket surpassed the speed of sound in less than a minute, and 1.6 million pounds of thrust pushed the orange and white launcher higher over the Pacific Ocean.
• The solid-fueled boosters jettisoned about two minutes after liftoff, and the rocket's nose fairing released as the H-2A rocket reached the thin upper atmosphere.
• The rocket's cryogenic upper stage took over next, igniting to put the mission's two secretive payloads into orbit.
• The launch marked the 22nd flight of an H-2A rocket and the eighth launch dedicated to Japan's spy satellite program.
• The satellites are in 508 x 513 km x 97.5 deg and 512 x 522 km x 97.5 deg orbits.

Satellite tracking: