Korea completes development of its first small satellite constellation

Korea has completed the development of the country's first small satellite constellation set to be topped on the Nuri rocket in October, and held a pre-shipment review on Thursday, the space agency said.

The group of spacecraft is part of Korea's project to operate 10 lightweight satellites for high-precision observation of the Korean Peninsula and its surrounding waters, the Korea Aerospace Agency (KASA) said.

An electro-optical camera with a spatial resolution from 1m to 4m will be topped on the satellites, the agency said.

The five satellites are Korea's first mass-produced earth observation satellite using commercial off-the-shelf parts.

The country had previously launched a prototype in April 2024.

KASA said the satellites highlight Korea's continuously advancing satellite production capacity, and vowed to strengthen the country's competitiveness in the space industrial sector.