The second indigenous spy satellite of South Korea was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and it entered orbit on Monday, according to the country’s defense ministry.
The launch was aired live on social media sites X and YouTube. It follows the December launch of Seoul’s first spy satellite from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base.
According to a statement from the ministry, the Falcon 9 rocket was launched on Sunday at 23:17 GMT, and 45 minutes later, the satellite successfully separated from the launch vehicle and entered its intended orbit.
It made successful communications with a ground station about two hours and 40 minutes after the launch, the ministry added.
The back-to-back launches of reconnaissance satellites come amid a race, opens new tab against North Korea for military capabilities in space.
After two earlier attempts ended in rocket crashes, Pyongyang said in November last year that it used its own Chollima-1 launch vehicle to place the Malligyong-1 reconnaissance satellite in orbit.
North Korea has previously vowed to launch three new spy satellites in 2024.
South Korean Defence Minister Shin Won-sik told reporters that North Korea could launch a second spy satellite as early as in mid-April, the Yonhap news agency reported.
Shin’s comment was based on the military’s observation of North Korea’s related activities, South Korean defence ministry spokesman Jeon Ha-gyu told a briefing.
Seoul’s second spy satellite is equipped with a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) capable of producing images regardless of weather conditions due to how it processes data.
