South Korea confirms first spy satellite in orbit
SEOUL—South Korea confirmed Saturday its first military spy satellite had reached orbit after a successful SpaceX rocket launch and that communication was established with ground control.
Seoul’s reconnaissance satellite, carried by one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, intensifies a space race on the Korean peninsula after the North launched its own first military eye in the sky last week.
South Korea’s defense ministry said Saturday its satellite reached orbit soon after the “KOREA”-emblazoned SpaceX rocket lifted off from the Vandenberg US Space Force Base in California at 10:19 a.m. local time Friday.
“The satellite was launched 0319 Seoul time and was successfully separated from projectile 11 minutes later and put into targeted orbital trajectory,” the ministry said in a statement.
“We have confirmed its communications with the ground command.”
Domestically built
Reaching orbit means that South Korea now has its first domestically built spy satellite to monitor nuclear-armed North Korea.
Seoul plans to launch four additional spy satellites by the end of 2025 to bolster its reconnaissance capacity over the North.
Set to orbit between 400 and 600 kilometers above Earth, the South’s satellite is capable of detecting an object as small as 30 centimeters, according to the Yonhap news agency.
“Considering resolution and its capacity for Earth observation … our satellite technology ranks in the top five globally,” a defense ministry official said, as quoted by Yonhap.
US reliance
The launch comes less than two weeks after Pyongyang successfully put its own spy satellite into orbit.
“Until now, South Korea has relied heavily on US-run spy satellites” when it comes to monitoring the North, Choi Gi-il, professor of military studies at Sangji University, told AFP.
While the South has “succeeded in the launch of a military communications satellite, it has taken much longer for a reconnaissance satellite due to higher technological hurdles,” he said.
Following the North’s successful launch of its spy satellite, Choi said, “the South Korean government needs to demonstrate it can also pull this off.”
The nuclear-armed North’s launch drew international condemnation which the North Korean leader’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, called “absurd.” —AFP
