South Korea successfully test-fires first solid-fuel space rocket: Ministry
South Korea has successfully test-fired its first solid-fuel space rocket, the South’s Defense Ministry says, days after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
In a statement carried by South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency, the ministry said that the state-run Agency for Defense Development had conducted the test at a site in Taean, 150 kilometers southwest of the capital, Seoul, on Wednesday.
The ministry added that the objective of the test-firing had been to confirm the alleged capabilities of the homegrown space launch vehicle, calling it a major development toward acquiring space surveillance capability.
The domestically-built solid-propellant rocket was launched with the presence of Defense Minister Suh Wook and other senior officials, the statement further said, adding that the country would soon launch a spy satellite into orbit aboard a solid-fuel rocket.
“Coming at a very grave time following North Korea's lifting of the weapons tests moratorium, this successful test-launch of the solid-fuel space launch vehicle is a key milestone in our military’s efforts to (build) a unilateral space-based surveillance system and bolster defense capability,” the statement read.
South Korea is currently in possession of no military reconnaissance satellite of its own and depends on American spy satellites to monitor strategic facilities in neighboring North Korea, which launched an ICBM last Thursday.
It was North Korea’s first full ICBM test since 2017 and the projectile appeared to travel higher and further than any previous missiles tested by Pyongyang to boost its nuclear deterrence against the United States.
The launch by Seoul also came less than a year after South Korea and the US agreed to remove the restrictions that had prevented the South from developing or possessing ballistic missiles with a maximum range of greater than 800 kilometers.
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un refocused on expanding the country’s nuclear and missile capabilities after diplomacy with former US President Donald Trump ended without any breakthrough in 2019.
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