South Korea’s fifth domestic spy satellite, named “Yesul‑5,” lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and has now entered orbit. The launch went off without a hitch, giving the country a boost in its own surveillance reach.
The Falcon 9 fired up at 1.09 a.m. U.S. time, placing the synthetic‑aperture‑radar (SAR) satellite into orbit just 14 minutes later. Within an hour after launch, the satellite pinged a South Korean ground station, proving it’s up and running normally.
This SAR satellite is the final piece of South Korea’s plan to field five spy satellites by the end of the year. The aim is to watch North Korea more closely and cut back on U.S. satellite imagery. Once all five are operational, the country expects to check on North Korea every two hours—regardless of weather—using a cluster of satellites.
“With this launch we’ve built independent, all‑weather surveillance across the Korean Peninsula,” the Defence Ministry said. The ministry’s officials, alongside the Defence Acquisition Programme Administration, highlighted that the success strengthens the military’s “Kill Chain” capability—one pillar of South Korea’s deterrence strategy.
Defence Minister Ahn Gyu‑back praised the launch as completing the army’s around‑the‑clock monitoring and pledged to push defence space tech further. South Korea’s first spy satellite entered orbit in December 2023 and was followed by three SAR satellites that gather data even in bad weather. North Korea, meanwhile, unveiled its own fleet, launching the Malligyong‑1 satellite in November 2023 and promising more, though a rocket failure in May kept it from continuing that year.
South Korea’s new satellite launch marks a key step in boosting its sovereign space‑based reconnaissance, reinforcing readiness against a rapidly modernising North Korea.
Source: ianslive
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