Japan launched an intelligence satellite Thursday as part of long-running efforts to monitor North Korean military activities and strengthen Tokyo’s response to natural disasters.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries launched the H-IIA No. 46 rocket carrying the IGS-Radar 7 satellite from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan’s southwest, subsequently confirming the reconnaissance satellite successfully separated from the rocket.

“The government intends to make maximum use of information gathering satellites, including Radar 7, and continue to do everything possible for Japan’s national security and crisis management,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a statement Thursday after the satellite entered orbit.

The new satellite is