SpaceX launches South Korea’s second spy satellite amid race with North

South Korea's defence ministry said on Monday the country's second homegrown spy satellite had entered orbit after its launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch, which comes after Seoul's first spy satellite was put into orbit from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base in December, was livestreamed on social media platforms X and YouTube. The Falcon 9 rocket was launched at 2317 GMT on Sunday and the satellite successfully separated from the launch vehicle 45 minutes later and entered its targeted orbit, the ministry said in a statement.