AMATEUR astronomers have blown Japan’s most closely guarded military secret.

Within a month of their launch, two Japanese spy satellites gathering information on North Korean nuclear weapons have themselves been spotted, photographed and had their estimated orbits circulated on the internet.

Tokyo’s attempts to keep the satellites under wraps have made scouting for them in the night sky a favorite hobby of astronomers around the world. Japanese groups are even organising viewing trips to the northernmost tip of Hokkaido island.

The first photographs were taken by a Finnish space enthusiast. The sighting was then confirmed by a Canadian amateur. In both cases, the astronomers said, the satellites were clearly visible because of reflected sunlight. They thought that they would be easily spotted by North Korea.

According to the astronomers, the satellites fly over North Korea twice a day. Japan’s Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Centre, which is overseeing the operation, maintained a stony silence and declined to say whether or not the information was accurate. Identification of the orbits “goes against Japan’s interests”, a spokesman said.

This is not the first time that the spy satellite project has led to embarrassment: the launch has already been criticised by the United States as being extremely premature. Japan is well behind the United States in interpreting the kind of photographic data being sent back; it takes about ten years to train an analyst how to identify nuclear weapons activities from space.

The speedy discovery of the sophisticated multimillion-pound satellites is a blow to the Japanese Government at a time of heightened tension in the region. North Korea, which claimed last week to have full nuclear capability, has successfully test-fired a series of missiles capable of hitting Tokyo.

The issue of defence against North Korean aggression has become a deeply divisive political issue in Japan, with some factions arguing strongly for constitutional changes that would allow Japan to engage in pre-emptive strikes. The two military satellites — Japan’s first and strongly backed by Junichiro Koizumi, the Prime Minister — were partly designed to reassure the public that the country was taking increasing responsibility for its own defence.

North Korea described the launch of the satellites in March as “a hostile act”, but two more Japanese satellites are planned for launch later this year.

Explore World News

• World Agenda

• Iraq News

• US & Americas News

• Europe News

• Middle East News

• Asia News

• Africa News

• Ireland News

Times Recommends

• ‘Thousands of Tamils dying’ in Sri Lanka camp
• Jackson 'rebuilt his nose before he died'
• Tehran: militiamen attack protesters