South Korea
Seoul’s satellite was launched into orbit using one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets
Agence France Presse
A SpaceX rocket has launched South Korea’s first military spy satellite, intensifying the space race on the peninsula after Pyongyang launched its first surveillance satellite of its own last week.
The Seoul reconnaissance satellite, carried by one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, lifted off from the US Space Force Base Vandenberg in California at 10:19 a.m. local time on Friday.
The word “KOREA” was emblazoned on the rocket.
Yohnap News Agency reported that the satellite successfully reached orbit shortly afterwards.
North Korea’s spy satellite is a big deal, no matter how advanced its technology
“The Falcon 9 lifted off at 10:19 a.m. and sent the reconnaissance satellite into orbit approximately four minutes after launch,” Yonhap said, citing South Korea’s Defense Ministry.
Reaching orbit would mean South Korea has acquired its first domestically built spy satellite to monitor nuclear-armed North Korea.
Seoul plans to launch four more spy satellites by the end of 2025 to bolster its reconnaissance capacity over the North.
According to Yonhap, Seoul’s satellite is set to orbit between 400 and 600 kilometers above Earth and is capable of detecting an object as small as 30 centimeters.
“Considering the resolution and its Earth observation capacity… our satellite technology is among the top five in the world,” the Defense Ministry official said, as quoted by Yonhap.
The launch comes less than two weeks after Pyongyang successfully put its own spy satellite into orbit.
“So far, South Korea has relied heavily on U.S.-operated spy satellites to monitor the North,” said Choi Gi-il, a professor of military studies at Sangji University.
While the South “succeeded in launching a military communications satellite, it took much longer for a reconnaissance satellite due to higher technological hurdles,” he said.
After the North’s successful launch of its own spy satellite, Choi said: “The South Korean government has to prove that it can do it too.”
Experts said deploying a functional reconnaissance satellite in orbit would improve North Korea’s intelligence-gathering capabilities, particularly about South Korea, and provide vital data in any military conflict.
Since launching last week, the North has claimed its new eye in the sky has already provided images of key US and South Korean military sites, as well as photos of the Italian capital Rome.
It has not yet released any of the satellite images it claims to have.
The North’s launch of Malligyong-1 was Pyongyang’s third attempt to put such a satellite into orbit, following two failures in May and August.
Seoul said the North received technical assistance from Moscow in return for the supply of weapons for use in Russia’s war with Ukraine.
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