Seoul, Nov 3: South Korea launched its fifth homegrown military spy satellite from a US space base on Sunday, the defence ministry said, in a move expected to bolster its independent surveillance capabilities against North Korea.The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) spy satellite lifted off at around 1 a.m. Sunday (US time) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, according to the ministry.
The satellite is the fifth and final military satellite launched under the country’s plan to deploy five spy satellites by the end of this year to better monitor North Korea and help reduce its reliance on US satellite imagery, Yonhap news agency reported.
“Operating a total of five reconnaissance satellites in a cluster will enable a faster and more accurate detection of signs of North Korea’s provocations,” the ministry said in a release.