Korea's first homegrown spy satellite launched on SpaceX rocket

Korea's first homegrown spy satellite has been launched to orbit on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket at 10:19 p.m. on Friday Pacific time at the Vanderberg Space Force Base in California.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket with South Korean reconnaissance satellite mounted is raised for liftoff at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.[MINISTRY OF DEFENSE]

Korea's first homegrown spy satellite has been launched to orbit on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket at 10:19 p.m. on Friday Pacific time at the Vanderberg Space Force Base in California.

The satellite's first propellant was separated around 2 minutes and 18 seconds after liftoff, while the cover on the satellite separated 2 minutes 44 seconds after launch.

The satellite's second propellant was separated, and then, after 12 minutes, the satellite entered orbit.

The satellite's first communication with the Korean ground base is expected to take place soon after.

The satellite is the first of five military reconnaissance satellites the Korean government plans to place in orbit by 2025 under the Program 425 mission.

The program is led by Korea's Agency for Defense Development and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, which partnered with private sector businesses, Korea Aerospace Industries and Hanwha Aerospace.

The satellite, equipped with a high-resolution imaging system, will not only monitor North Korean threats, including major facilities such as missile bases and nuclear arsenal testing sites, in near real-time but also play a key role in Korea's kill chain defense system.

The satellite sent to low orbit with an altitude between 400 and 600 kilometers on Friday is equipped with an electro-optical infrared telescope with a 30-centimeter resolution.

That means it could take images of objects of 30 by 30 centimeters in detail.

Countries with satellites equipped with electro-optical infrared telescopes include the United States, China, Russia, Japan and France.

According to the Korean military and the developers, it would take at least four months to complete the stabilizing process.

The satellite is expected to conduct a full reconnaissance mission early next year.

The second satellite, which is slated for launch in April next year, will be equipped with more advanced high-performance synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which is not affected by the atmospheric environment.

The satellite is fully developed by Korea, which previously had to rely on images of North Korea from the United States.

The South Korean military, in July 2020, launched a military-exclusive telecommunication satellite, Anasis-II, which was also delivered through SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

North Korea launched its own reconnaissance satellite on Nov. 21 and claimed that it acquired images of key South Korean and U.S. military bases, including the Pentagon, as well as aircraft carriers.

However, North Korea has yet to disclose the images it claims to have taken with its satellite Malligyong-1.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]