Korea launches Earth-observation satellite No. 4 into orbit via SpaceX Falcon 9

Korea's Earth observation satellite successfully put into orbit

A Korean Earth observation satellite has successfully entered low-Earth orbit following its launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Tuesday, the country's space agency said. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the next-generation midsized satellite No. 4 lifted off at 12:12 a.m. Tuesday (California local time), or 4:12 p.m. Tuesday (KST), as part of the Transporter-17 rideshare mission, which carried 81 payloads. The satellite successfully separated from the launch vehicle at around 6:42 p.m. Tuesday, about two hours and 30 minutes after liftoff. The satellite then succeeded in making its first communication with the Svalbard ground station in Norway about 23 minutes later, according to the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA). The space agency said the launch marked a "significant" achievement in expanding Korea's private-led satellite development capabilities. "By independently securing satellite imagery and data needed for agriculture, forestry, climate and disaster response, we have significantly strengthened the competitiveness of our private-led satellite industry an

2 hours ago

Korea's Earth observation satellite launched from US base

A Korean Earth observation satellite was successfully launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Tuesday, the country's space agency said. The next-generation medium-sized satellite No. 4 lifted off aboard Falcon 9 at 12:12 a.m. Tuesday (local time) as part of the Transporter-17 rideshare mission, which carried 81 payloads. The satellite is scheduled to separate from the launch vehicle about 2 hours and 22 minutes after liftoff and attempt its first communication with the Svalbard ground station in Norway about 31 minutes later, the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) said. The country's first satellite dedicated to agriculture and forestry is designed to support a wide range of applications, including crop monitoring, forest management, disaster response and climate analysis. The satellite carries a domestically developed wide-area observation camera capable of imaging the entire Korean Peninsula every three days. If initial operations proceed as planned, the satellite will undergo three to four months of image calibration and data verifi

6 hours ago