South Korea successfully placed into orbit its third homegrown spy satellite launched from a US space centre Saturday, the defence ministry said.

Yonhap News Agency reported that a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the satellite normally lifted off at 8:34 p.m. (Korean time) from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California as planned and sent the reconnaissance satellite into orbit at 9:24 p.m.

The launched satellite succeeded in communicating with an overseas ground station at 11:30 p.m., it added, in a step indicating the satellite’s normal operation.

It is the third military satellite launched under South Korea’s plan to acquire five spy satellites by 2025. South Korea has previously relied largely on satellite imagery provided by the United States.