IGS Optical 8

IGS Optical 8

• Type: Government/Top Secret
• Orbit: Sun-Synchronous Orbit
• Launch Cost: $90,000,000

The IGS Optical 8 (Intelligence Gathering Satellite) is a Japanese optical reconnaissance satellite. The satellite is operated by the Cabinet Satellite Information Center. The satellite serves both Japan’s national defense and civil natural disaster monitoring.

Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-1

Tanegashima Space Center, Japan

Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-1 has witnessed the launch of 55 rockets, including 55 orbital launch attempts, while Tanegashima Space Center, Japan, has been the site for 90 rocket launches.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA 202

H-IIA (H2A) is an active expendable launch system operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The liquid-fueled H-IIA rockets have been used to launch satellites into geostationary orbit, to launch a lunar orbiting spacecraft, and to launch Akatsuki, which studied the planet Venus. Launches occur at the Tanegashima Space Center.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group.

MHI’s products include aerospace components, air conditioners, aircraft, automotive components, forklift trucks, hydraulic equipment, machine tools, missiles, power generation equipment, printing machines, ships and space launch vehicles. Through its defense-related activities, it is the world’s 23rd-largest defense contractor measured by 2011 defense revenues and the largest based in Japan.