- Japan launched a new spy satellite into orbit today amid concerns over North Korea's missile programme and to monitor natural disasters in the region.
- The Japanese H-2A rocket carrying an information- gathering radar satellite lifted off at 10:21 am (0121 GMT) from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan.
- The government decided to build an intelligence-gathering system following North Korea's missile launch in 1998 into the Pacific over the Japanese archipelago.
- In defiance of international pressure, North Korea launched what was believed to be a three-stage Taepodong-2 missile in April 2009, with an estimated range of 6,700 kilometres
