Tag: South Korea
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South Korean Orbiter Photographs Fresh Lunar Crater After Falcon 9 Upper Stage Impact
The upper stage was a leftover piece of the rocket that launched Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 and ispace’s HAKUTO-R M2 Resilience, two lunar landers that lifted off in January 2025. The stage measured 13.8 meters long and weighed 4,000 kg. While the incident poses no harm to any missions currently in orbit or on…
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South Korea Commits 40B Won to OTV Race Already Underway
Is South Korea Too Late to the Orbital Transfer Vehicle Market? South Korea’s government is committing 40 billion won to develop and demonstrate a flight-model orbital transfer vehicle by 2029 — entering a space logistics race that Impulse Space, D-Orbit, and Rocket Lab USA have been running for years. The Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA) is…
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Launch Preview: Swift rescue mission, final Atlas satellite launch
Several orbital launches are scheduled worldwide this week. A mission to rescue the Swift observatory spacecraft is planned along with the first full flight of a South Korean military launcher. This week could also see the final satellite launch by an Atlas family rocket. There is also an Electron launch from New Zealand. The Swift…
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South Korea Launches Search for Second Spaceport to Handle Reusable Rocket Surge
The move reflects mounting pressure on South Korea’s single launch site. The agency said it currently relies solely on the Naro Space Center, leaving the country’s space-transport capacity thinly stretched. It noted that major spacefaring nations operate multiple spaceports to secure flexibility and industrial competitiveness. KASA said the new center is intended to support more…
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Launch Preview: GPS, Progress, and Starlink missions to launch during busy week
Seven missions, four countries, and five launch vehicles make the week of April 20 one of the more diverse on the 2026 manifest. GPS III SV10 carries the week’s most technically significant payload in its first-ever GPS laser communications demonstration, while South Korea’s ADD vehicle attempts its first complete four-stage orbital flight. Rocket Lab pulls…
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Telesat and MDA Sign MoUs With Hanwha Systems on Korea’s K-LEO Satellite Plans
Canadian space companies Telesat and MDA Space said on Monday they have signed separate memorandums of understanding with South Korea’s Hanwha Systems to explore cooperation related to Korea’s planned sovereign low-Earth orbit defense constellation, known as K-LEO. The announcements follow a collaboration agreement reached in November 2025 between the Canadian government and South Korea’s Defense…
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L3Harris Wins Contract to Supply Imaging Payload for South Korea’s Next Weather Satellite
L3Harris Technologies has secured a contract from South Korea’s defense firm LIG Nex1 to deliver the next-generation imaging payload for the Korea Meteorological Administration’s upcoming geostationary weather satellite, the companies said. The main payload aboard the Geostationary Earth Orbit Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite-5 (GEO-KOMPSAT-5) will be the new 18-channel L3Harris GEO-KOMPSAT Meteorological Imager. The instrument includes…
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South Korea’s Innospace Signs Deal to Launch Hanbit Rockets From Portugal’s Santa Maria
South Korean launch services provider Innospace has signed an agreement with the Atlantic Spaceport Consortium (ASC) to conduct launches of its Hanbit rocket family from the Malbusca Spaceport on the Portuguese island of Santa Maria, expanding Europe’s emerging commercial launch infrastructure. The agreement, signed on Jan. 8, makes Innospace the first company planning orbital launches…
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Launch Roundup: Soyuz launches ISS crew; Vega C and Falcon 9 launch customer missions
This week has seen seven launches from five different rockets from across the world. SpaceX launched two missions on its workhorse Falcon 9, while a Russian Soyuz launched three new crew members towards the International Space Station from Kazakhstan. A Russian military payload launched atop an Angara 1.2 from northern Russia, and South Korea launched…
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South Korea’s IBS Orders Cubesat to Study Venus, Supporting Planetary Science Amid Budget Uncertainty
South Korea’s Institute for Basic Science (IBS) has placed an order for the first of five cubesats aimed at studying Venus from low Earth orbit (LEO), marking a growing role for small satellites in planetary research as flagship missions face uncertain funding. Lithuania-based NanoAvionics announced it secured a contract to build an 8U cubesat for…