KOMPSAT-3 (Korean Multi-purpose Satellite-3), also known as Arirang-3, is a South Korean multipurpose

Earth observation satellite An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite used or designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit, including spy satellites and similar ones intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, me ...

. It was launched from Tanegashima Space Center, Japan at 16:39 UTC on 17 May 2012. Like the earlier

KOMPSAT-1 KOMPSAT-1 (Korean Multi-purpose Satellite-1), also known as Arirang-1, was a satellite created by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and launched by a United States launch vehicle on 21 December 1999. This was the first satellite bui ...

and KOMPSAT-2 satellites, it takes its name from the popular Korean folk song Arirang. Its launch was the culmination of a project begun in 1995. KOMPSAT-3 orbits at a height of , circling the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

14 times per day, and is expected to maintain that orbit for 4 years. It weighs . The satellite carries an Advanced Earth Imaging Sensor System (AEISS), which can distinguish to a 70-cm resolution, allowing the identification of individual vehicles on the ground. The satellite was succeeded by KOMPSAT-5 and KOMPSAT-3A, which were launched on 2013 and 2015 respectively.

History

South Korea started the KOMPSAT programme in 1995 to nurture its national Earth-imaging industry and supply services for remote-sensing applications. The South Korean KOMPSAT-3 Earth-imaging satellite was developed by

Korea Aerospace Research Institute The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), established in 1989, is the aeronautics and space agency of South Korea. Its main laboratories are located in Daejeon, in the Daedeok Science Town. KARI's vision is to continue building upon indig ...

(KARI), in partnership with EADS Astrium, to assure continuity with the KOMPSAT-2 satellite launched in 2006. KOMPSAT-3 was orbited on 17 May 2012 by a launch vehicle from Tanegashima Space Center, Japan. SI Imaging Services is the worldwide exclusive distributor of KOMPSAT imagery since November 2012.

Technologies

Orbit

KOMPSAT-3 operates in a near-polar, circular

Sun-synchronous orbit A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is ...

. The orbital parameters are: * Mean altitude: 685.1 km * Mass: 980 kg * Inclination: 98.13° (Sun-synchronous orbit) * Orbital period: 98.5 minutes * Orbital cycle: 28 days

Instruments

KOMPSAT-3's instruments are designed to acquire high- and very-high-resolution imagery with a footprint of 16.8 km. The satellite has the capacity to acquire 20 minutes of imagery on each orbit and it can steer its sensors both ways out to 30° off track. Panchromatic and multispectral images can be acquired at the same time. KOMPSAT-3 radiometer features:

Ground receiving stations

Two receiving stations deliver KOMPSAT-3 imagery 1 to 3 days after acquisition. The Deajeon station in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

is responsible for tasking the satellite.

Advantages and applications of KOMPSAT-3 imagery

KOMPSAT-3 is designed for very-high-resolution (VHR) remote-sensing applications, such as: * Land planning: to detect and identify features smaller than 1 square meter, e.g. vehicles, street furnishings, roads and bushes * Agriculture: to pinpoint crop or tree diseases * Urban planning and demographics: to locate detached houses * Civil engineering: to plan road, railroad and oil pipeline corridors * Defence: to describe high-value assets or military sites

South Korea

It serves along with the existing Kompsat-2 to provide continuous satellite observation of the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, sending images twice a day at 01:30 and 13:30.

References

External links

Reuters report

KARI

SI Imaging Services

Satrec Initiative

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{{Orbital launches in 2012 Satellites orbiting Earth Satellites of South Korea Spacecraft launched in 2012