STSat-2A (Science and Technology Satellite-2A)
[ ] was a
satellite launched by the
Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), the national space agency of
South Korea, from the
Naro Space Center in
Goheung County
Goheung County (''Goheung-gun'') is a county in Jeollanam-do Province, South Korea.
Naro Space Center
The Naro Space Center was completed during 2008 in southern Goheung and is operated by the state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute. Th ...
,
South Jeolla using the
Naro-1 (KSLV-1)
launch vehicle.
Spacecraft
The
Satellite Technology Research Center
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
(SaTReC) developed STSat-2A as a
Sun observation, satellite laser ranging and engineering and technology demonstration sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology. It was expected to be operational for about two years, and was scheduled to be launched between 2005 and 2007.
[ ] The Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) instrument was intended to measure the orbit of STSAT-2A, in order to investigate variations in its orbit.
It was a follow-up to
STSat-1
The STSat-1 (Science and Technology Satellite-1), formerly known as KAISTSat-4 (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology Satellite-4), is an ultraviolet telescope in a satellite. It is funded by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute ( ...
, which was launched using a
Kosmos-3M rocket on 27 September 2003. Originally a Dual-channel Radiometers for Earth and Atmosphere Monitoring (DREAM)
microwave radiometer was intended as the principal payload of STSat-2A for an expected launch in 2007.
The Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) was described as an early expected payload for STSat-2A which would consist of nine retroreflectors in a mechanical casing.
Mission
STSat-2A has three missions: the indigenous research and development to place a satellite into
low Earth orbit, development of indigenous
spacecraft, and the ability to develop scientific payloads.
Launch
STSat-2A was launched on the maiden flight of the
Naro-1 launch vehicle, which lifted off the
Naro Space Center, on the southern coast of South Korea at 08:00:33
UTC on 25 August 2009. The launch failed to place STSat-2A into orbit after half of the payload fairing failed to separate.
This resulted in the second stage being too heavy to reach orbit, and it fell back to
Earth along with the satellite. A second satellite,
STSat-2B
STSat-2B, or Science and Technology Satellite-2B, was a South Korean satellite which was lost in the failure of the second flight of the Naro-1 launch vehicle. It was to have been operated by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), and w ...
, was launched on 10 June 2010, but the launch vehicle failed again.
See also
*
Arirang-2 (KOMPSAT-2)
References
External links
{{Orbital launches in 2009
Earth observation satellites
Satellite launch failures
Satellites of South Korea
Spacecraft launched in 2009