BusanSat, a very small ocean observation satellite for Busan Metropolitan City in which Nara Space Technology participated in production, was successfully launched.
Nara Space Technology said on the 7th that BusanSat was launched on the 3rd from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, carried by SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.
About 139 minutes after liftoff, the satellite separated normally in orbit. It then completed two-way communications with the ground station and is now proceeding with initial operations. BusanSat is expected to finish its initial operations this month and begin full-scale observation missions next month.
BusanSat is the first very small ocean observation satellite promoted by a local government in Korea. It is a 12U class (1U is 10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm in width, length, and height), measuring 20 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm, and weighs about 12 kg. A polarization camera is mounted as the main payload.
The satellite will observe marine fine dust and the ocean and atmospheric environment across the Busan port area, the west coast of the Korean Peninsula, and the Pacific. The observation data will be used for marine environment analysis, policymaking on fine dust response, and industrial applications based on marine data.
In this mission, Nara Space Technology handled satellite system integration and bus manufacturing. BusanSat adopts the company's in-house developed very small satellite bus system, the Highly Adaptive Platform. The platform is designed to be used with a variety of payloads and mission conditions.
The company noted that the launch and initial communications confirmed the platform can be applied not only to Earth observation but also to ocean and atmospheric observation missions.
Data collected by BusanSat is expected to be used not only for marine environment management in Korea but also for international climate research. Busan Metropolitan City and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) signed a joint utilization agreement in Mar. 2024 and have worked with NASA's Langley Research Center to use BusanSat data for climate change analysis.
Lee Jeong-gyu, chief business officer at Nara Space Technology, said, "BusanSat is meaningful as a very small satellite specialized for ocean observation that applies the Highly Adaptive Platform, and as the first ocean observation satellite in Korea operated by a local government," adding, "It is also noteworthy as a satellite model that can actually use public data such as marine fine dust observation."
Park Jae-pil, CEO of Nara Space Technology, said, "A satellite we prepared over about seven years from planning to development and launch was successfully launched," and added, "We expect BusanSat to contribute to Busan City's marine environment management and to international climate research with NASA's Langley Research Center."