South Korea launches 3rd spy satellite successfully

South Korea’s third military reconnaissance satellite was launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Saturday.

Like South Korea’s second spy satellite, the third one is equipped with a powerful synthetic aperture radar. It transmits radio waves to the ground and visualizes the signals reflected back.

Although the images are in black and white, the satellite can carry out reconnaissance day and night, regardless of weather conditions.

Another upside is a shortened reconnaissance cycle. The first satellite can shoot the Korean Peninsula only twice a day by passing over the Polar Regions. But the second and third satellites can film up to six times a day by orbiting Earth around the equator.