[Breaking] Military Reconnaissance Satellite 1 Successfully Enters Orbit Normally

Our military's Military Reconnaissance Satellite 1 has successfully entered its target orbit.

The 'Falcon 9' launch vehicle of the American space company SpaceX, carrying our military's reconnaissance satellite No. 1, was launched from the Vandenberg base in California at 3:19 a.m. Korean time on the 2nd (10:19 a.m. local time on the 1st). (Photo by SpaceX website capture)

On the 2nd, the Ministry of National Defense announced, "Military Reconnaissance Satellite 1 separated from the Falcon-9 launch vehicle at around 3:33 a.m. Korean time and successfully entered its target orbit."

The Falcon-9 is a two-stage liquid-propellant (kerosene + liquid oxygen) rocket. The first stage booster separated 2 minutes and 22 seconds after launch. This was followed by ignition of the second stage engine, fairing separation, and the first shutdown of the second stage engine. After 12 minutes and 16 seconds from launch, the satellite separated and entered orbit.

Earlier, SpaceX's Falcon-9 launch vehicle was successfully launched at around 3:19 a.m. Korean time on the 2nd from the Vandenberg Space Force Base launch site in California, USA. It is the world's only reusable launch vehicle with a launch success rate of 99.2%. As of August this year, out of 246 launches, 244 were successful.

The success of the launch of Reconnaissance Satellite 1 is expected to be confirmed about 80 minutes after liftoff. This is because the satellite's normal operation will be checked and the success of the launch confirmed when communication is established with overseas ground stations. The satellite is scheduled to be operational in the first half of next year. After communication, the satellite's operational status will be checked, and calibration work will be performed to focus the images, followed by an assessment of whether the satellite is functioning properly. Then, after 4 to 6 months of operational test and evaluation, it will be commissioned.

Reconnaissance Satellite 1 is a low Earth orbit satellite orbiting at an altitude of 400 to 600 km. It is equipped with electro-optical (EO) and infrared (IR) instruments and can visit specific locations several times a day to perform surveillance and reconnaissance missions. The resolution of the captured images is known to be about 0.3 meters. It can identify objects as small as 30 cm on the ground, which is considered to be far superior to North Korea's reconnaissance satellites, which are known to have a resolution of about 3 meters.

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