Rapid progress in the construction of what is presumed to be a new launch pad at North Korea's Sohae satellite launching station suggests that an attempt to put the regime’s first military spy satellite into orbit may be imminent.

Citing an analysis of commercial satellite imagery taken by Planet Labs on Monday, Radio Free Asia(RFA) said the outline of what is presumed to be a new launch pad stretching 40 meters long and 140 meters wide has been identified.

While images from April 30 showed dirt ground, imagery from May 16 showed a completed concrete pad, followed by the detection of several large cranes six days later.

David Schmerler, senior research associate at the California-based James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, said the North is making significant progress in the construction.

Joseph Bermudez Jr., senior fellow for Imagery Analysis at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Pyongyang is able to utilize its control over labor and resources to accelerate the construction in the favorable spring weather.