[Exclusive] Launch of Military Satellite No. 2 on the 8th of Next Month [Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club]
Falcon 9 Rocket Launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base
Reconnaissance Satellites 2-5 Capable of Imaging in Severe Weather Conditions
The military authorities will launch the second military reconnaissance satellite on the 8th of next month. They plan to launch five reconnaissance satellites by next year, and if all are successful, they will be able to conduct reconnaissance of specific points in North Korea every two hours.
On the 26th, a government official stated, “The military reconnaissance satellite No. 2 is scheduled to be launched at 8:17 a.m. Korean time on the 8th of next month (7:17 p.m. U.S. time on the 7th),” adding, “There is a significant impact from weather, so the schedule may change.”
Our military launched the first reconnaissance satellite last December from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA, aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The first satellite is currently orbiting normally in space. After operational test evaluations that began in mid-this month, it is expected to start missions to reconnoiter and monitor key targets in North Korea from June to July. Like the first satellite, the second reconnaissance satellite will be launched from the U.S. Air Force base in Florida aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9.
However, while the first reconnaissance satellite was equipped with electro-optical (EO) and infrared (IR) imaging equipment, the second reconnaissance satellite carries a high-performance synthetic aperture radar (SAR). SAR satellites create images by transmitting electromagnetic waves to ground targets and synthesizing the reflected signal data, allowing observation regardless of weather conditions. EO and IR satellites can obtain clearer images than SAR satellites, but their mission performance can be limited on days with heavy cloud cover. The third to fifth reconnaissance satellites, scheduled for launch by next year, will all be SAR satellites. Additionally, by 2030, the plan is to operationalize about 40 ultra-small satellites weighing less than 100 kg each, reducing the revisit cycle over the Korean Peninsula to within 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, it is known that our military reconnaissance satellite No. 1 has transmitted satellite images of the center of Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, to the ground. The satellite images currently transmitted by reconnaissance satellite No. 1 require extensive correction work, but by next month, higher-resolution images are expected to be received.
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In the center of Pyongyang is the Workers' Party headquarters building, where Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, has his office. When the reconnaissance satellites begin normal operations in June to July, the military’s independent surveillance capabilities to track the movements of Chairman Kim and other North Korean leaders, as well as North Korean military trends, are expected to be significantly strengthened.
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