SEOUL, December 02 (AJP) - Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) said Tuesday the country's new multipurpose satellite was successfully launched at 2:21 a.m. local time from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana aboard a VEGA-C rocket.
KAI played a key role in the mission, jointly developing and assembling the satellite with the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).
Officials said the launch significantly strengthens South Korea’s precision earth-observation capabilities, enabling stable acquisition of high-resolution imagery of the Korean Peninsula and other strategic regions.
The satellite is equipped with an ultra-high-resolution electro-optical camera capable of capturing images at 0.3-meter resolution. The data is expected to support land management, disaster response, environmental monitoring and urban planning.
The mission follows last month’s successful launch of a medium satellite. KAI said it intends to build on the momentum to expand the nation’s satellite development capacity and accelerate the shift toward greater private-sector leadership in space projects.
“As a leading space company in South Korea, we will continue contributing to the nation’s space ambitions by leveraging our 30 years of experience across satellite and launch vehicle programs,” said Kim Ji-hong, head of KAI’s Future Convergence Technology Institute.
* This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP.
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