South Korea’s second domestically produced spy satellite was successfully launched into orbit, the country’s defense ministry announced on Monday.
The satellite was launched from an American space center using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
In December, Seoul confirmed the successful launch of its first military spy satellite, also carried by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket belonging to Elon Musk’s company.
The defense ministry stated, “Our military’s second reconnaissance satellite successfully separated from the launch vehicle around 09:02 (1202 GMT) and entered the target orbit.”
“We intend to verify the satellite’s operational status by communicating with ground stations overseas,” the ministry added.
These recent developments mark an escalation in the space race on the Korean peninsula following North Korea’s launch of its first military satellite in November last year.
South Korea’s initial satellite has already transmitted high-resolution images of central Pyongyang to authorities in Seoul and is anticipated to begin full operations as early as June, according to Seoul’s Yonhap news agency.
Seoul aims to deploy a total of five military spy satellites by 2025 to enhance monitoring of North Korea.
Upon the deployment and activation of all five satellites, the South Korean military will be capable of monitoring key facilities in North Korea with imagery updates approximately every two hours, as reported by Seoul’s government-run broadcaster KTV.
North Korea claims its spy satellite has transmitted images of a US naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and various strategic sites across South Korea.
The successful launch of North Korea’s “Malligyong-1” satellite marks Pyongyang’s third attempt to put such a satellite in orbit, following failures in May and August of the previous year.
This year, Pyongyang has escalated tensions by declaring South Korea its “principal enemy,” dismantling agencies dedicated to reunification efforts, and threatening military action over perceived territorial violations, no matter how minor.
