A new military intelligence satellite of South Korea has been successfully launched into orbit to monitor North Korea. The launch took place from the American base in Florida using the Falcon 9 rocket of SpaceX. About this informs Yonhap News Agency.
The launch was carried out the day before from the space force station at Cape Canaveral in the evening local time. As reported, the satellite entered orbit 15 minutes after launch.
“We plan to confirm whether the satellite is working properly by communicating with the ground station,” – said the Ministry of Defense of South Korea.
The synthetic-aperture radar satellite is the fourth military vehicle launched as part of official Seoul’s plan to deploy five spy satellites by the end of this year. Its goal is to provide more effective surveillance of North Korea and reduce reliance on satellite imagery provided by the United States.
South Korea put the first reconnaissance satellite into orbit in December 2023. It was equipped with electro-optical and infrared sensors capable of creating detailed images.
In 2024, Korea launched two more satellites equipped with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), which can receive data regardless of weather conditions. South Korea plans to launch a final, fifth SAR satellite later this year.
