On Wednesday, South Korea’s military claimed it had recovered the wreckage of a North Korean spy satellite that crashed in May after a botched launch and discovered it had no military purpose as a reconnaissance satellite.
Last month, the military discovered rocket fragments that plummeted into the water after takeoff.
“After detailed analysis on major parts of North Korea’s space launch vehicle and satellite which were salvaged, South Korean and U.S. experts have assessed that they had no military utility as a reconnaissance satellite at all,” the military stated.
On Wednesday, the South Korean military announced it had completed salvage operations that began immediately after the debris hit the west coast on May 31. Navy, aircraft, and deep-sea divers participated.
South Korean military specialists said they had captured a North Korean satellite for the first time.
Lee Choon-Geun, an analyst at South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute, said the initial assessment showed the equipment’s reconnaissance performance was inadequate in resolution and tracing targets.
Yang Uk, a fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, claimed: “the resolution of the optical device loaded on the satellite was unsuitable for military use.”
After the space vehicle launched, South Korea’s military found a huge, cylindrical piece of debris in the water, but it sank.
Recovered two weeks later.
Last month, North Korea admitted the launch was the “gravest failure” but promised to succeed in orbit.
The nuclear-armed North has launched satellites since the 1990s and plans to launch its first reconnaissance satellite to monitor U.S. military activity.
North Korea launched orbiting objects in 2012 and 2016. Pyongyang claimed they were observation satellites, but they haven’t been seen working.
South Korea, Japan, and the West condemned the May 31 launch as violating international law and U.N. Security Council resolutions banning North Korean ballistic missile technology.
Pyongyang considers such criticism an affront to its sovereign right to self-defense and space research.
Kim Jong Un promised military reconnaissance satellites in a January 2021 strategy address. Pyongyang recently updated its Sohae satellite launch station, possibly for another attempt.
At a June Workers’ Party conference, North Korea blamed the accident on second-stage engine thrust reduction and “irresponsible” preparations by authorities and engineers.
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