SEOUL, May 3 (AJP) — South Korea successfully launched its next-generation midsized Earth observation satellite on Sunday, marking a major step forward in the country’s push to strengthen homegrown space technology and private-sector satellite capabilities.
The satellite, known as CAS500-2 or Next-Generation Mid-Sized Satellite No. 2, lifted off aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 4 p.m. Korea time Sunday, according to the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA).
CAS500-2 separated from the launch vehicle about an hour after liftoff and later established its first communication with a ground station in Svalbard, Norway, confirming that onboard systems were operating normally.
Developed primarily by Korea Aerospace Industries under South Korea’s next-generation satellite program, CAS500-2 is designed for high-precision Earth observation missions including land resource management, disaster monitoring and agricultural analysis.
The satellite will orbit Earth at an altitude of about 498 kilometers in a sun-synchronous orbit. It is equipped with domestically developed optical imaging technology capable of identifying objects as small as 0.5 meters in black-and-white imagery and 2 meters in color imagery.
KASA said the successful launch demonstrated a significant advancement in South Korea’s satellite independence, as key satellite body systems and payload components were developed using domestic technology.
The satellite is expected to undergo about four months of initial operational testing before beginning full-scale missions later this year alongside CAS500-1, which was launched in 2021.
The project was originally scheduled to launch aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket in 2022, but the plan was delayed for nearly four years following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting disruption in the global launch market.
SpaceX said the mission, dubbed “CAS500-2,” carried a total of 45 payloads for multiple international customers including KAI, Planet Labs and other commercial operators. The company also noted that the Falcon 9 first-stage booster used for the mission was making its 33rd flight before successfully landing at Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
“The successful launch of CAS500-2 is an important milestone opening the era of private-led New Space,” KASA Administrator Oh Tae-seok said in a statement. “By independently securing ultra-high-resolution imagery needed for land and disaster management on the Korean Peninsula, we have significantly strengthened the technological competitiveness of Korea’s satellite industry.”
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which will utilize the satellite’s imagery services, said the launch would improve the country’s ability to provide faster and more diverse geospatial information services through the combined operation of national satellites.
The Falcon 9 mission also carried 44 additional payloads, including “BusanSat,” a cube satellite jointly developed by the city of Busan, the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute and Nara Space Technology.
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