Space agency to launch Korea's 4th medium-sized satellite on July 9

Korea plans to launch a fourth next-generation medium-sized satellite on July 9, with final preparations underway at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, the country's space agency said.

Oh Tae-seok, administrator of the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA), announced the plan during a meeting with reporters at the agency's headquarters in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang, on Wednesday.

The 500-kilogram (1,102-pound) Earth observation satellite will be jointly utilized by the Rural Development Administration and the Korea Forest Service for applications such as crop growth analysis and wildfire monitoring.

The launch will mark KASA's third satellite mission in less than a year, following the successful deployment of Multipurpose Satellite 7 in December of last year and the next-generation medium-sized satellite No. 2 in May. Both are currently operating normally and carrying out their missions.

At the same time, Korea's latest multipurpose satellite, the Arirang 6, is facing a fresh delay due to setbacks in the development of a foreign co-passenger satellite that was scheduled to share a Vega-C rocket operated by European launch service provider Arianespace.

The Arirang 6 had originally been slated for launch in the second half of this year, but the schedule is now expected to be pushed back to the second quarter of next year, Oh said.

Meanwhile, preparations for the fifth launch of the homegrown Nuri space rocket are proceeding on schedule, he said.

"Assembly of the rocket's first, second and third stages are expected to be completed this week, with full vehicle integration set to begin next week," Oh said.

The official launch date will be determined at a launch management committee meeting in early August, with the launch currently expected to take place in September.

Oh also underscored the need to expand the nation's launch infrastructure to ensure timely launches of domestically developed satellites, announcing plans to move forward with the construction of a second national space center.

Korea currently operates only one launch facility, the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla.

"Demand for launches from both government agencies and private companies is growing rapidly, increasing the need for additional infrastructure," Oh said.

KASA plans to select a site for the second space center in October and begin the project in 2028, with the goal of supporting reusable launch vehicles currently under development.

"Once completed, the second space center is expected to provide next-generation launch infrastructure capable of supporting reusable launch vehicles by the mid-2030s," he said.

Yonhap