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SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches South Korean Agriculture Satellite from California
A South Korean Earth observation satellite lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base on July 7. The satellite is the country's first dedicated to agriculture and forestry monitoring.
Jul 7, 3:18 AM·1m read1 source
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A South Korean Earth observation satellite lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Tuesday, Yonhap reported. The next-generation medium-sized satellite No. 4 launched at 12:12 a.m.
Local time as part of the Transporter-17 rideshare mission carrying 81 payloads, the Korea AeroSpace Administration said. The satellite is scheduled to separate from the rocket about two hours and 22 minutes after liftoff. It will attempt its first communication with the Svalbard ground station in Norway about 31 minutes after separation.
The satellite carries a domestically developed wide-area observation camera capable of imaging the entire Korean Peninsula every three days. The satellite is South Korea's first dedicated to agriculture and forestry. It is designed to support crop monitoring, forest management, disaster response and climate analysis.
If initial operations proceed as planned, the satellite will undergo three to four months of image calibration and data verification before entering full-scale service in the first half of 2027, KASA said.
