Japanese Military Satellite Damaged During Transportation

A satellite of the Japanese Defense Ministry will miss its summer launch after sustaining damage during transportation to a space center in French Guiana, media reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The DSN-1 military communications satellite was to be put into the orbit by a heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket alongside an Indian telecom satellite, the SpaceNews website cited industry officials as saying Monday.

According to the website, it is not clear what caused the damage and whether the Japanese satellite will be sent back for repairs. The next launch from the European space center was scheduled for August.