SEOUL, January 29 (AJP) - South Korea’s homegrown CubeSat, K-RadCube, will fly aboard NASA’s Artemis 2 crewed moon mission to observe the space radiation environment, marking the first time a South Korean satellite will directly measure the high-energy radiation belts encountered by astronauts.
The Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) said on Thursday that the satellite will study Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts at multiple altitudes, generating data that could support the safety of future crewed deep-space missions.
K-RadCube will be launched mounted on the Orion spacecraft’s stage adapter during Artemis 2, a crewed test flight that will send four astronauts on a lunar flyby and return them to Earth — the first such mission in about 50 years since the Apollo program.
The CubeSat is scheduled to be deployed about five hours after launch, when it will begin measuring radiation levels in high-Earth orbit.
“Securing direct measurements of space radiation is critical, as radiation exposure remains one of the biggest risks for human space exploration,” Kang Kyung-in, head of space science and exploration at KASA, said at a briefing in Seoul.
He noted that while radiation can already cause errors in highly integrated semiconductors on Earth, radiation levels in space are far more intense. Data from K-RadCube could be used in the design of future crewed spacecraft and in mission safety planning, he said.
The project involves several South Korean companies, including Nara Space Technology, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Nara Space Technology said the CubeSat had to meet stringent NASA safety requirements not typically applied to small satellites, including battery standards, thermal runaway testing and hazard-control destruction tests.
KASA Administrator Yoon Young-bin said the mission would serve as an important international validation of South Korea’s ability to develop and operate deep-space CubeSats, as well as safety and reliability technologies relevant to human spaceflight.
He added that the project could help expand South Korea’s technical contributions and role in future lunar and deep-space exploration efforts.
* This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.