The Nov. 6 launch of the first of a new generation of low-cost Earth observation satellite platforms built by NEC Corp. for the Japanese government comes as the company looks to make further inroads in the international commercial market with a range of satellite offerings. After a lengthy delay, the inaugural Advanced Satellite with New System Architecture for Observation, or ASNARO-1, was successfully launched aboard a Russian Dnepr rocket from that country's Yasny launch base, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said. The 450-kilogram satellite is primarily a demonstration platform but carries an optical sensor capable of taking images with 50-centimeter resolution. The ASNARO program is part of a broader Japanese government bid to refocus its space program on practical applications, in this case through a low-cost but highly capable platform for optical and radar Earth observation.
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