S. Korea to launch 4th medium-sized multipurpose satellite on July 9: space agency

Oh Tae-seok, administrator of the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA), speaks during a press briefing at KASA headquarters in the southeastern city of Sacheon, Wednesday. Yonhap

SACHEON — South Korea plans to launch its fourth next-generation medium-sized satellite on July 9, with final preparations under way 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, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Wednesday.

The 500-kilogram 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 and next-generation medium-sized satellite No. 2 in May. Both satellites are currently operating normally and carrying out their missions.

At the same time, South Korea's latest multipurpose satellite, 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.

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 2027, 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.

South Korea currently operates only one launch facility, the Naro Space Center in Goheung, about 330 kilometers southwest of Seoul.

"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.