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Arirang 7 bound for space. [Captured live broadcast from the space agency]

The Korean space clock is running faster than ever. At the end of last month, ultra-small satellites launched by the Korean launch vehicle Nuri successively sent signals of survival in space, and succeeded in settling and communicating with Arirang 7, which will closely monitor the Korean Peninsula.

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) announced at 2:21 a.m. on the 2nd that multipurpose satellite 7 (Arirang 7) was successfully launched from the French Guiana Space Center in South America on a European space launch vehicle called Vega-C (VEGA-C).

The Arirang 7 was separated from the projectile about 43 minutes after liftoff and entered its target orbit. About 25 minutes later, he sent a "telemetry" signal to the ground to inform the satellite's status, and succeeded in communicating with the Antarctic troll ground station for the first time by developing solar panels for power generation. At 1:40 p.m. on the same day, the communication with the ground station of the Daejeon Hangwoo Association was completed.

In particular, when the deployment of the "X-band antenna," a key equipment for transmitting video data, was completely successful, there were cheers of relief among the researchers who watched the launch overnight at the site. Arirang 7 will undergo correction of image quality in the space environment for the next six months and send high-precision Earth observation images to the ground in earnest from the first half of next year.

Starting next year, the government plans to start developing 'Multipurpose Practical Satellite 8', an ultra-high-resolution satellite that can identify objects up to 10cm in size.

"The success of Arirang 7 is the fruit of many years of investment and effort," said Lee Sang-chul, head of the Hangwoo Research Institute. "It is very meaningful that we can acquire high-precision satellite image information such as high-precision mapping and disaster response on our own without borrowing from others."

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Researchers are conducting multi-purpose satellite No. 7 control work at the satellite control room of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute in Daejeon on the 2nd.[Courtesy of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute]

Meanwhile, 'little satellites' that left Goheung, Jeollanam-do, for space on the Nuri (fourth launch) on the 27th of last month have also been reported to survive one after another.

The space agency and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute said nine of the 12 Cube satellites aboard the Nuri spacecraft succeeded in communicating with the ground station. CubeSatellites are ultra-small satellites the size of shoe boxes, but they perform basic scientific tasks such as observing the earth and verifying space technology.

Starting with the Inha University satellite on the 27th of last month, the day of the launch, a total of nine aircraft sent signals sequentially to the Seoul National University satellite (SNUGLITE-III) on the 29th. It has been confirmed that the Seoul National University satellite has succeeded in "two-way communication" in which the satellite responds when it sends an order from the ground, allowing it to control the satellite. The satellite of the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) has successfully deployed solar antennas that generate electricity.

The researchers are also trying to communicate with the three Cube satellites, which have not yet been reached. It is not easy to pinpoint the exact location in a large space because it is so small, but the researchers will use high-performance radar data from the United Space Force Combined Space Operations Center (CSpOC) to locate and communicate the remaining satellites.

"With the dedication of many researchers, we have become world-class in the field of Earth observation satellites," said Yoon Young-bin, head of the space agency. "We will actively support mature satellite development capabilities to spread to the private sector and become the driving force of our space economy."