The Silicon Review ^Asia

On Sunday, the country's official news agency, KCNA, said that an "essential, final phase" test was done as North Korea plans to finish making a spy satellite by April 2023.

The data was made public a day after the forces of South Korea and Japan claimed that the isolated North had fired two intermediate-range ballistic missiles in the direction of its east coast. KCNA says that at its Sohae satellite launch facility in the northwest, Pyongyang's National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) tested its ground control, data transmission, and satellite imaging capabilities.

A mock satellite carrying vehicle was launched at a "lofted angle" of 500 kilometres while also equipped with two multispectral cameras, a 20 metre resolution fullcolor camera, picture transmitters, and receivers (311 miles). In addition, on Sunday, KCNA made available two low-resolution black-and-white images of Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and the nearby port city of Incheon.

Martyn Williams, a fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, says that the North's camera can't do the usual imaging tasks that modern commercial satellites can do. These satellites can take pictures at 50 cm or even 30 cm, which Williams would use for the 38 North project.