Falcon 9 rocket — loaded with Korea's next-generation mid-sized satellite No. 4 — is launched in California on July 7.SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Korea's satellite No. 4 is seen loaded inside a Falcon 9 rocket in the red circle.SPACEX
A Korean-made Earth observation satellite was launched successfully in California, the state-run space agency announced Tuesday.
The next-generation medium-sized satellite No. 4 lifted off at 4:12 p.m. Korean time from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the Korea AeroSpace Administration said. The satellite was bound for a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 888 kilometers (551 miles).
It was scheduled to separate from the launch vehicle at around 6:42 p.m., before its first attempt to communicate with a ground station at 7:03 p.m. During the initial contact, engineers will verify whether its solar panels have deployed properly and it has entered its intended orbit.
The satellite is the country's first dedicated to agricultural and forestry purposes. It was collectively developed by the Korea AeroSpace Administration, the Rural Development Administration and the Korea Forest Service.
Until now, Korea has relied largely on satellite data from Europe and other overseas providers for agricultural and forestry monitoring.
The satellite is expected to begin full-scale operations in the first half of 2027 after completing about four months of initial operations.
Then-parliamentary speaker Woo Won-shik observes an agriculture-purpose satellite at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Sept. 23, 2025.NEWS1
Equipped with a wide-area camera capable of imaging a 120-kilometer swath at a five-meter (16.4 feet) resolution, the new satellite will be able to photograph the entire Korean Peninsula every three days.
The satellite is expected to support a wide range of applications, including crop monitoring and farmland analysis, wildfire damage assessment, forest ecosystem observation, disaster response and climate change research.
The project was led entirely by Korea's private aerospace industry from design through manufacturing, testing and verification. Korea Aerospace Industries oversaw the development together with other domestic companies.
“More than 75 percent of the satellite's main body and payload components were produced domestically,” the Korea AeroSpace Administration said. “The production secured Korea’s independent space development capabilities.”
The state-run space agency plans to leverage the standardized satellite platform developed through the project to expand satellite exports to the Middle East and South America.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
