Japan launches new high-tech Himawari 8 weather satellite into space

Japan has launched its latest high-tech weather satellite into orbit. Taking off on Tuesday on a H-IIA rocket from Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency Launchpad, the new satellite was successfully placed into orbit 27 minutes after lift off. It's said to be able to take in more than 50 times the amount of information than previous weather satellites, Japanese media has said Himawari-8 - meaning Sunflower in Japanese - is also the first to transmit colour photos. As the satellite images become multi-colour from the current black and white, it will be easier to observe volcanic gas, which will be helpful for early warnings of a volcanic eruption. The new satellite can obtain a satellite image of a typhoon once every two and a half minutes, against the current pace of once every 30 minutes. Report by Claire Lomas.

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"Himawari" (literally "sun-rotate") means "sunflower".

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