South Korea will launch a military communications satellite in August, officials, quoted by an Associated Press report, said.
The report said the Mugunghwa 5 satellite, also designed for civilian use, would be launched August 10 from a vessel in the South Pacific, according to an official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The official, who refused to be named due to office protocol, said the satellite would be used for enhancing the communications network for the military, and not for surveillance, the Associated Press report said.
The satellite was developed by France's Alcatel and would be jointly managed by the Defense Ministry and South Korea's largest telecom company KT once in orbit, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
Since 1992, South Korea has launched eight satellites, mostly for space and ocean observation and communications.