Science

CAS500-1

Earth Observation / Standard Satellite Platform · KARI (South Korea)

CAS500-1 was built to be copied. South Korea's space research institute, KARI, designed this 500 kg satellite not only to photograph the country but to be a standard, reusable platform — a template Korean industry could take over and build again and again, instead of every new satellite starting from a blank page. Launched March 22, 2021 on a Soyuz-2.1a from Baikonur, after a two-day delay, it shared the ride with 37 other satellites from 18 countries. From about 310 miles up in a sun-synchronous orbit, it images at 50 cm in black-and-white and 2 meters in color, mapping the Korean peninsula for land management, urban planning and disaster response — its Korean name translates as 'Land Satellite No. 1.' The plan worked: its twin, CAS500-2, was built by a private company rather than the government institute. CAS500-1 also turned out to be the last of its series to fly on a Russian rocket. The Soyuz seat booked for its twin was cancelled after Russia invaded Ukraine, and that satellite waited four more years to reach orbit.