HANCOM InSpace, an affiliate of Hancom Group, said on the 30th that it won a project led by the Korea Air Force Academy to develop and teach satellite technology.
The project is the Air Force Academy's "aerospace vehicle (artificial satellite: KAFASAT-2) test and hands-on training course" and will run for about two years until Dec. 29, 2027. Because the satellite being developed has been confirmed as a rideshare payload on the sixth Nuri rocket launch, the program will provide advanced, practice-focused training aimed at actual insertion into orbit.
The satellite's main mission is Earth observation using an optical camera. The collected data will be used in a range of fields, including geographic information applications, disaster monitoring, urban planning, and national security. Data generated during the course will also go through analysis and utilization steps comparable to those in a real-world operational environment.
HANCOM InSpace will support the overall development of a 6U CubeSat flight model (FM) and launch services through this project. It will handle proposing an ultra-small satellite platform, satellite system design and mission/system analysis, flight software (FSW) development, and a plan to link with the ground station, covering the entire process of satellite development.
By supporting procedures essential in the satellite manufacturing and verification stages—such as environmental, functional, and assembly tests—the project will establish a hands-on training system that lets cadets experience the entire satellite development process. After development is complete, the company plans to raise the project's completeness by linking it through to the actual launch service.
A HANCOM InSpace official said, "We will work to train operations personnel early in step with the plan to secure space assets and to strengthen the competitiveness of ultra-small satellite technology."
Meanwhile, HANCOM InSpace successfully launched its self-developed 6U-class Earth observation ultra-small satellite, Sejong-4, on the fourth Nuri rocket launch, and on the 28th of last month it established communications with the ground station and reached the target orbit. The company plans to use this as a starting point to ramp up efforts to build a satellite constellation system and its AI-based Satellite Data Analytics business.