[News Today] S. Korea launches 4th spy satellite

[LEAD]
South Korea's military is pressing forward with the so-called 425 Project, aimed at deploying five military reconnaissance satellites by 2027. The country's fourth military spy satellite successfully lifted off yesterday. Next up, we take a closer look at how South Korea's surveillance capabilities over North Korea could change once all five satellites are in place.

[REPORT]
A U.S. SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying South Korea’s fourth military spy satellite.

Soars to the sky belching a fiery flame.

The rocket lifted off at 9:48 a.m. and entered orbit in 15 minutes.

It communicated with a ground station twice, signaling a successful launch.

Starting with the first recon satellite launched in December 2023 now all four have been successfully placed in orbit for their mission.

The last and fifth one in the so-called 425 Project will also launch within this year.

When fully deployed, they can monitor key facilities in North Korea with an interval of two hours.

Jung Gyu-heon / Defense Acquisition Program Administration
Operating the satellite cluster can reduce the interval of revisiting monitoring
areas and more accurately and swiftly identify signs of N. Korean provocation.

The military has been exerting particular effort to secure reconnaissance assets such as early warning and control aircraft and high altitude drones as part of its Kill Chain preemptive strike system to deter North Korean nuclear threats.

The satellites will push the country closer to perfecting the Kill Chain by reducing reliance on satellite imagery provided by allied nations.