Japan's plan to set up a system of four reconnaissance satellites has been finalized, with Kagoshima Prefecture chosen as the second of two sites for the system's ground antennas, according to a government source.
Akune city will host one of the two dish-shaped antennas that, together with four satellites and two data control centers, will make up the system.
The other antenna will be located in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, the source said Tuesday.
The satellites are to be placed in orbit by the end of March 2003.
The spy satellite program was initiated after North Korea launched a rocket, widely believed to be a missile, over Japan in 1998. Tokyo, without its own reconnaissance satellites, was informed of the launch by Washington.
The government named Akune as the site after failing to reach an agreement with two towns -- one each in Kumamoto and Okinawa prefectures -- as a result of disputes with residents opposed to the construction of military facilities in their areas.
Akune Deputy Mayor Yutaka Kawabata, however, welcomed the plan saying, "The city assembly approved a resolution in June calling on the government to decide (on Akune)."
Two of the four satellites will carry cameras capable of recognizing objects on the earth as small as 1 meter, while the other two will be able to map out images of objects through thick clouds and in shadows by using radio waves.
The government plans to complete the system's nerve center, located in Tokyo, and the other data center in Ibaraki Prefecture by the end of March 2002, the source said.
The previous candidate areas were the towns of Aso in Kumamoto and Higashi in Okinawa.