Japan delays launch of satellite due to weather

TOKYO - Japan on Thursday postponed the launch of an information gathering satellite with a radar reconnaissance payload for the Japanese government due to weather.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. were quoted by the Kyodo news agency as saying that clouds prone to generating lightening may gather in the sky over the launch pad for the H-2A rocket at the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan's southwestern Kagoshima Prefecture.

The launch was scheduled at 10:21 am Thursday.

They said they will explore when it can be launched but the earliest date possible would be Saturday.

Intelligence satellites are believed to be employed to monitor ground surfaces to gain information related to national security and disasters.

Information obtained and images captured by the satellites are subject to a law enacted last year to enable the Japanese government to designate information it deems sensitive as state secrets, Kyodo reported.