Japan launches rocket with first foreign satellite

A rocket has lifted off in Japan in the countrys first commercial launch of a foreign satellite one from South Korea designed to monitor the environment.The HII-A rocket lifted off from a remote southwestern Japan island carrying the South Korean satellite and three Japanese satellites.Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, a private company in charge of HII-A rocket production since 2007, is hoping to compete with the U.S., Russia and Europe as a launch-vehicle provider.The Korean satellite, KOMPSAT-3, was developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute to monitor the environment. The rocket also carried Japans Shizuku satellite to monitor climate change and two smaller Japanese satellites.