Japan is scheduled to launch the third one of a set of four spy satellites on Sunday, making one step further to build a global information gathering system.

The satellite, a half of the second pair, is an optical one, and will be put into space by an H-2A rocket from Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan's Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyodo News quoted government officials as saying.

The optical satellite is said to be capable of a resolution of 1 meter and can distinguish objects such as cars on the ground, the report said.

If the launch turns to be a success, Japan will send a radar satellite, which is the remaining half of the second pair, later in the year.

The new pair of satellites is designed to work with the first set to take pictures on any point of the earth surface at least once a day.

Japan launched the first pair of satellites successfully in March 2003, but failed the launch of a second pair due to rocket problems later that year.

Source: Xinhua