SpaceX launches South Korea’s second spy satellite in Florida
South Korea’s defense ministry said the country’s second homegrown spy satellite had entered orbit after its launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in Florida.
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s defense ministry said Monday that the country’s second homegrown spy satellite had entered orbit after its launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The launch, which comes after Seoul’s first spy satellite was put into orbit from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base in December, was livestreamed on social media platforms X and YouTube.
The Falcon 9 rocket was launched at 7:17 p.m. ET on Sunday and the satellite successfully separated from the launch vehicle 45 minutes later and entered its targeted orbit, the ministry said in a statement.
It made successful communications with a ground station about two hours and 40 minutes after the launch, the ministry added.
The back-to-back launches of reconnaissance satellites come amid a race against North Korea for military capabilities in space.
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