The era of satellite platforms opens… Succeeded in launching the 1st next-generation medium-sized satellite

Korea’s first’next-generation medium-sized satellite (car mid-size satellite) No. 1′, which can serve as a standard platform, was launched.

On the 22nd, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced that the vehicle-based satellite 1 developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute was launched on the Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket at the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan at 3:07 pm as scheduled. After launch, the vehicle satellite 1 is expected to start transmitting images in earnest from October after undergoing an initial operation process for about 6 months in a solar synchronous orbit at an altitude of 497.8 km after launch.

The vehicle medium satellite 1 is a satellite with the highest level of performance. The vehicle medium satellite 1 is a 500kg satellite and can secure images with a resolution of 50cm. The 50cm resolution is the same level as’Arirang 3A’, which boasts the highest performance among Korean optical satellites. The Chajung Satellite 1 was developed with the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport investing a budget of about 157.9 billion won. In the future, it will be utilized mainly in accordance with the demand for satellite imagery in the public sector, from providing precise ground observation images to managing land and resources, and responding to disasters.

The car mid-satellite No. 1 attracted attention because it can serve as a platform for satellites. Hang Woo-yeon developed the vehicle mid-satellite 1 so that it can be duplicated without a basic configuration design. Thanks to this, it is expected that general research institutes and private companies will be able to develop satellites using the intermediary satellite platform in the future.

The intermediate satellite platform can serve as the main body of the satellite. Satellites are generally divided into main bodies and payloads. The body moves the satellite and the payload performs the actual mission. Now, research institutes and private companies do not need to develop both the main body and the payload when building satellites as before. This is because Hang Woo-yeon only needs to combine the payload to the vehicle mid-satellite platform that has already been made and launch. General research institutes and private companies can attach an already made payload to the main body or develop a new payload that they want and attach it to the platform.

The vehicle satellite 1, which moved to the Baikonur Space Center in January, was mounted on the Soyuz 2.1a launch vehicle after successfully completing the launch preparation work such as function check, fuel injection, launch vehicle and assembly for about 50 days. However, the vehicle satellite 1, which was scheduled to be launched on the 20th, was delayed because a problem was found in the control system above the Soyuz 2.1a launch vehicle.

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