On April 24th, the Ministry of Science and ICT of South Korea announced that the country has successfully launched a nano satellite into Earth’s orbit. This marks a significant step in a national project aimed at creating a satellite constellation by 2027.
NEONSAT-1 was launched from Rocket Lab’s spaceport in Mahia, New Zealand. (Photo: UPI)
The satellite, named NEONSAT-1, is the first satellite of the NEONSAT project (an acronym for New-space Earth Observation SATellite constellation for national safety).
The Ministry of Science and ICT reported that NEONSAT-1 was launched from Rocket Lab’s spaceport in Mahia, New Zealand, at approximately 10:08 AM local time on April 24th, which translates to around 3:38 AM on the same day in Seoul.
This Earth observation satellite was deployed into space at an altitude of 520 km, approximately 50 minutes after the rocket’s launch.
Developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) for mass production, NEONSAT-1 weighs less than 100 kg and features a resolution of 1 meter.
It is the first of 11 planned nano satellites that will form a constellation designed to monitor and photograph the Korean Peninsula and surrounding seas.
South Korea plans to launch an additional 5 nano satellites into space in June 2026 and another 5 in September 2027.
