The military in August will launch the "Mugunghwa 5," a dual use satellite that has the distinction of being both the country’s fourth commercial and first military communications satellite.

A Defense Ministry official said Tuesday that the satellite’s manufacturer, Sea Launch, will launch “Mugunghwa 5” on August 10th from a large vessel in the South Pacific into geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometers above sea level.

Once launched, the satellite will eliminate shortcomings of the military communication network, which has so far relied on a ground-based network.

The satellite will also contribute to improving the nation’s military capacity by bolstering the military’s information-gathering capabilities.