May 2o, 2024: Both North Korea and South Korea recently launched their second space satellites. First North Korea using one of its own rockets launched from North Korea. A month later South Korea did the same. Both Koreas use these observation satellites to keep an eye on each other. South Korea also used a locally designed and manufactured rocket to launch its satellite from the U.S. space center in Florida. In the future, South Korea will pay SpaceX to use their rockets to put five more satellites in orbit by 2025. This will be less expensive, and faster than using South Korean rockets. The SpaceX launches are cheaper because SpaceX pioneered the use of reusable booster rockets that return to earth and land under their own power. No one else has managed to copy that technology although China is making a major effort to do so.

North Korea claims its satellite can return useful images of areas on earth but will not provide images proving that it can do so. The successful North Korean launch came after two failures. North Korea is far behind South Korea when it comes the technical and production capabilities. The North Korean response is to pretend, no very convincingly, it can compete with South Korea.