Japan's Defense Ministry’s first communications satellite is set to be launched Tuesday in a program aimed at upgrading the Self-Defense Forces’ ability to better cope with security challenges. 
An H-2A rocket carrying the Kirameki-2 defense communication satellite will be launched by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, state news agency (Kyodo). 
The Kirameki-2 satellite is one of three defense communications satellites that will replace three civilian satellites currently used by the Self-Defense Forces. 
According to Defense Ministry officials, the new satellites will enhance direct communication among units of the Ground, Maritime and Air Self-Defense Forces through a high-speed and high-capacity network amid increased North Korean missile activity and potential threats to the nation’s remote islands. 
The ministry plans to position the Kirameki-2 over the Indian Ocean and expects the satellite to also be utilized by SDF personnel taking part in UN peacekeeping operations in South Sudan and those participating in an anti-piracy mission in waters off Somalia, it said. 
The total cost for Kirameki-1 and 2 is about $1.1 billion, they said. 
The ministry expects to operate the new communications satellites, which use X-band radar technology, for about 15 years. The X-band frequency range is widely used for military communications. 
The satellite is the first of its kind introduced by the Defense Ministry. It will be used to share information among Japan's Self-Defense Forces units deployed worldwide.

Source: QNA