North Korea constructing satellite launch pad with ‘new urgency’
2023.05.24 22:34
North Korea constructing satellite launch pad with ‘new urgency’
Budrigannews.com – According to a report that cites commercial satellite imagery, construction at North Korea’s satellite launching station has reached a “new level of urgency,” most likely in preparation for a launch.
Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s leader, has approved final preparations for a launch to place its first military spy satellite in orbit without releasing a date.
According to a report released on Thursday by 38 North, a Washington-based program that monitors North Korea, progress on a new launch pad in a coastal area east of North Korea’s Sohae Satellite Launching Station is moving forward at a “remarkable pace” as evidenced by commercial satellite imagery from Monday.
“This uptick in activity suggests a new level of urgency in making the site ready to accommodate satellite launches,” the report stated. “While the key components of the Sohae complex have been undergoing modernization and expansion over the past year,” the report added.
The new launch pad appears to have lighting towers, an assembly structure mounted on rails, a possible mechanism for positioning a rocket, and a tunnel for directing flames away.
According to the report, additional infrastructure will most likely be required if it is intended to service rockets powered by liquid fuel.
Crews appear to have completed modifications to the gantry tower at Sohae’s primary launch pad, while work continues on a fuel and oxygen storage facility.
Another region for celebrities to notice dispatches likewise shows up to a great extent finished, 38 North closed.
A military satellite, according to analysts, is part of the state’s efforts to improve its ability to strike targets in the event of a conflict by advancing surveillance technology, including drones.
Two “earth observation” satellites appeared to have been successfully launched from North Korea in 2016, the most recent of which was launched in 2016.
The satellite appeared to be under control, according to international observers, but whether it had sent any transmissions remained an open question.
