H-IIA Kirameki Japan
H-IIA rocket carrying Japan's first military communications satellite lifts off from Tanegashima space port on Tanegashima Island, southern Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo January 24, 2017. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS

Japan on Tuesday launched its first military communications satellite to boost the broadband capacity of its Self Defence Forces as they reinforce an island chain stretching along the southern edge of the East China Sea.

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Brian Berger is editor in chief of SpaceNews.com and the SpaceNews magazine. He joined SpaceNews.com in 1998, spending his first decade with the publication covering NASA. He was named senior staff writer in 2004, a position he held until being named...