(Seoul) North Korea has conducted a “significant test” as part of the “final phase” of developing a spy satellite, which it plans to complete in April 2023, state media reported Monday. North Korean.
On Sunday, the Seoul military detected the launch of two medium-range ballistic missiles by Pyongyang, the latest after a year marked by a record series of weapons tests.
Sunday’s firings were “an important late-stage test for the development of a reconnaissance satellite”, a spokesman for North Korea’s National Aerospace Development Authority (NADA) said, according to the agency. KCNA State.
Experts believe that the development of such a satellite could serve as a cover for Pyongyang to test intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), which largely share the same technology.
The test carried out on Sunday from the Sohae satellite launch base, in the Tongchang-ri area (north-west), was able to validate “important technical (elements)”, in particular the capture of images from space as well as as the processing and transmission of data by communication devices.
The state agency also reported that the craft carrying the “test” satellite — which included cameras, image transmitters and receivers, control systems and batteries — reached an altitude of 500 kilometers.
Developing a reconnaissance satellite was among Pyongyang’s key defense plans unveiled last year by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Earlier this year, North Korea conducted two launches, claiming to have carried out tests on components of a reconnaissance satellite. According to Washington and Seoul, they were probably parts of its new Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile.
Kim Jong-un has stepped up his banned weapons programs since talks over his nuclear program broke down in 2019. The Pyongyang leader said in 2022 he wanted his country to have the world’s most powerful nuclear force, calling it in September of “irreversible” the nuclear power status of the North.
Washington and Seoul have been warning for several months that North Korea could be preparing what would be its seventh nuclear test, the first in five years.
Pyongyang has been under multiple UN Security Council sanctions over its nuclear and missile program since 2006.