North Korea has conducted a “significant test” as part of the “final stages” of developing a spy satellite, which it aims to complete in April 2023, North Korean state media reported Monday.
Seoul’s military on Sunday detected the launch of two medium-range ballistic missiles by Pyongyang, at the latest after a year marked by a record-breaking series of weapons tests.
The shots on Sunday are “an important late-stage test for the development of a reconnaissance satellite,” said a spokesman for North Korea’s National Aerospace Development Authority (NADA), according to the agency KCNA State.
Experts believe the development of such a satellite could serve as a cover for Pyongyang to test intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), which use much of the same technology.
The test, carried out on Sunday from the Sohae satellite launch base in the Tongchang-ri area (northwest), was able to validate “important technical elements”, in particular the acquisition of images from space and the processing and transmission of data by communication devices.
The state agency also reported that the ship carrying the “test” satellite – which was equipped with cameras, image transmitters and receivers, control systems and batteries – reached an altitude of 500 kilometers.
The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea’s Labor Party, published two black-and-white photographs that appeared to show South Korea from space.
The development of a reconnaissance satellite was one of Pyongyang’s key defense plans unveiled last year by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Earlier this year, North Korea conducted two launches and claimed to have conducted tests on components of a reconnaissance satellite. According to Washington and Seoul, these were likely parts of their new Hwasong-17 ICBM.
nuclear state
Pyongyang tested a “high-thrust solid fuel engine” at the Sohae launch site on Thursday. According to experts, solid-fuel rockets are more mobile and require less preparation time for launch.
However, all of North Korea’s listed ICBMs run on liquid fuel. Solid-fuel ICBMs that can be launched from land or submarines were among the development goals unveiled by Kim Jong Un in 2021.
The North Korean leader has stepped up its banned weapons programs since negotiations over its nuclear program broke down in 2019. The Pyongyang leader said in 2022 he wanted his country to have the world’s most powerful nuclear power plant, calling it the September of the “irreversible”. Nuclear Power Status of the North.
Washington and Seoul have been warning for several months that North Korea could prepare for its seventh nuclear test, its first in five years.
Pyongyang has been under several UN Security Council sanctions since 2006 over its nuclear and missile programs.