Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has launched its ASNARO-2 small radar satellite into orbit from the JAXA Uchinoura Space Centre in Japan.

The satellite was launched aboard an Epsilon-3 rocket, the third vehicle in the Epsilon series of rockets developed by JAXA.

Around 52mins 35s after the launch, the ASNARO-2 got separated from its launch vehicle. The satellite was placed into an orbital position 500km above Earth, reported Xinhua.

“We aim to strengthen our competitiveness in launching small satellites.”

The ASNARO-2 was developed by Japanese electronics firm NEC under a project funded by Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

The satellite can spot ground objects as small as 1m-wide and capture images in low-visibility environments.

The images to be provided by the ASNARO-2 are expected to be used by research institutes and local governments to mitigate various issues, including disasters and deforestation.

JAXA president Naoki Okumura was quoted by Nikkei Asian Review: “We aim to strengthen our competitiveness in launching small satellites.”

The agency previously postponed the launch of the ASNARO-2 by a day, due to bad weather.

The recent development also marks the first mission undertaken by JAXA to launch a satellite developed by a private entity.