Military to Launch Microsatellite in 2025

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Our military will develop a microsatellite capable of detecting North Korea's Transporter Erector Launchers (TEL) starting next year. The first unit will be launched in 2025.

According to the military on the 10th, a budget of 11.2 billion KRW for satellite development was recently submitted to the National Assembly. The microsatellite system consists of multiple swarm satellites orbiting in low Earth orbit, each following a designated path to identify abnormal signs in the surveillance area.

The production cost per unit is only 1/30th that of large satellites, allowing dozens of satellites to be launched and operated simultaneously. This will enable rapid monitoring of urgent targets including TELs, enhancing early warning capabilities.

In addition to the microsatellite reconnaissance system, military reconnaissance satellites are also being developed. Led by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), it is expected that the first military reconnaissance satellite will be launched next year. These military reconnaissance satellites will be equipped with high-performance synthetic aperture radar and optical satellites, enabling surveillance of the Korean Peninsula with significantly higher resolution and shortened satellite revisit times.

If the military reconnaissance satellites are developed without setbacks and microsatellites are also deployed, by the mid-2020s the military is expected to possess reconnaissance capabilities to directly monitor the Korean Peninsula 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.