North Korea builds satellite launch pad with ‘new urgency’: report | World News

A U.S.-based think tank said in a report, citing commercial satellite imagery, that construction of North Korea’s satellite launch station had reached a “new level of urgency,” likely in preparation for the launch.

North Korea said it had completed its first military spy satellite and leader Kim Jong Un had approved final preparations to put it into orbit, but gave no date.

Commercial satellite imagery on Monday showed that a new launch pad on the coast east of North Korea’s Sohae satellite launch station was advancing at “amazing speed,” 38 North, a Washington-based project that monitors North Korea, reported Thursday.

“While key components of the West Sea complex have been modernized and expanded over the past year, the increase in activity demonstrates a new level of urgency to prepare the site to accommodate satellite launches,” the report said.

The new launch pad appears to have rail-mounted assembly structures, a possible mechanism to lift the rocket into place, lighting towers and a tunnel for deflecting the flames.

Additional infrastructure will likely be required if liquid-fueled rockets are to be serviced, the report added.

At the main launch pad at Sohae, crews appear to have finished remodeling the Gantry Tower, while continuing to build fuel and oxidizer storage.

A new area for VIPs to view the launch also appears to be largely complete, 38 North concluded.

Analysts say the military satellites are part of an effort by the reclusive nuclear-armed state to advance surveillance technology, including drones, to improve its ability to strike targets in the event of conflict.

North Korea has attempted several times to launch “Earth observation” satellites, two of which appear to have been successfully placed in orbit, most recently in 2016.

International observers said the satellite appeared to be under control, but there has been debate over whether it ever sent any signals.