[lbo-talk] Japan aborts spy satellites mission after take-off

uvj at vsnl.com uvj at vsnl.com
Sat Nov 29 15:13:41 PST 2003


HindustanTimes.com

Saturday, November 29, 2003

Japan destroys spy satellites shortly after take-off

Agence France-Presse Tokyo, November 29

Japan aborted the launch of a second pair of spy satellites to monitor North Korea shortly after take-off on Saturday, a project spokesman said.

"Shortly after the launch, we sent a destroy order to the rocket as we concluded that the mission cannot fulfil the purpose," said Shoko Yamamoto, a spokesman for the satellite launch project.

"We cannot tell further details, but at least we can say this mission ended in failure," Yamamoto said.

A Japanese H-2A rocket carrying the two spy satellites had lifted off at 1:33 local time on Saturday from a launch site on the southern island of Tanegashima some 1,000 km southwest of Tokyo, said officials of the governmental Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tanegashima Space Centre.

© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2003.



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