South Korea's third military spy satellite was successfully launched from a United States space center on Saturday.

According to the Defense Ministry, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the country's homegrown spy satellite lifted off at 8:34 p.m. Seoul time on Saturday from the Vandenberg Space Force Base.

The satellite was sent into orbit at 9:24 p.m. and succeeded in communicating with an overseas ground station at 11:30 p.m., a step confirming the successful launch.

The satellite will carry out surveillance on North Korea after months of testing.

South Korea's first and second spy satellites were launched in the United States in December last year and April this year.

The third satellite is equipped with synthetic aperture radars that capture data using microwaves and can collect data regardless of weather conditions.