(MENAFN) On Sunday, SpaceX successfully sent South Korea’s fifth domestically produced military intelligence satellite into orbit from a U.S. launch site in Florida aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, according to Seoul’s Defense Ministry.

The Falcon 9 liftoff occurred as planned at 1:09 a.m. local time (0609 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the ministry confirmed.

“On board this mission are 18 payloads for KOREA ADD, Exolaunch, Fergani, Tomorrow Companies Inc., Starcloud, and Vast,” SpaceX announced on the social media platform X, both companies being owned by billionaire Elon Musk.

The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite represents the fifth and final launch in South Korea’s initiative to deploy five reconnaissance satellites by year-end.

This program is intended to strengthen surveillance of North Korea while reducing reliance on U.S. satellite intelligence, reported a Seoul-based news agency.

"Operating a total of five reconnaissance satellites in a cluster will enable a faster and more accurate detection of signs of North Korea's provocations," the ministry had stated in an earlier press release.

With all five satellites in orbit, South Korea is projected to monitor North Korean activity every two hours.

South Korea first launched a spy satellite in December 2023, equipped with electro-optical and infrared sensors for high-resolution imagery.

Since that initial deployment, three more satellites have been launched, all featuring SAR sensors capable of collecting data in any weather conditions.

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