Science

CAS500-2

Earth Observation · Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) / KARI

CAS500-2 spent four years waiting for a ride. Finished and booked for a 2022 launch on a Russian Soyuz, South Korea's second mid-size Earth observation satellite lost its seat when Russia invaded Ukraine, was rebooked onto a SpaceX Falcon 9 shared with a sibling, then moved again to a flight of its own. It finally lifted off from California on May 3, 2026, as the primary payload of a Falcon 9 rideshare carrying 44 other satellites. Its camera is a match for its twin CAS500-1 — 50 cm black-and-white and 2-meter color imagery — but who built it is what makes it a milestone. CAS500-1 came out of the government's KARI research institute; CAS500-2 was designed and built by Korea Aerospace Industries, the company behind South Korea's KF-21 fighter jet, making it the first satellite of its class built under Korean private-industry leadership. At 534 kg, it now flies alongside CAS500-1 about 310 miles up, mapping the Korean peninsula for land management, urban planning and disaster response — and doubling how often the country can look at itself.