War in Ukraine affecting South Korea’s satellite launch plan

October 3, 2022

South Korea's KOMPSAT satellite

The South Korea Ministry of Science and ICT announced on Sept. 28 that South Korea’s plan to launch satellites using Russian launch vehicles cannot be realized, with South Korea joining international sanctions on Russia.

According to the plan, South Korea’s KOMPSAT-6 multipurpose satellite is scheduled to be launched on Russia’s Angara rocket in its Plesetsk Cosmodrome spaceport in the second half of this year and South Korea’s second next-generation medium-sized satellite is supposed to be launched on Russia’s Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

According to the ministry, a new budget of approximately 88.1 billion won is required for a change of plan. The ministry is planning to sign a contract with another launch service provider once the budget is fixed next year. The new rocket is likely to be SpaceX’s Falcon or the European Space Agency’s Ariane.

Earlier, the launch of South Korea’s SNIPE satellite failed in the first half of this year. The satellite for space weather observation was supposed to be launched on a Soyuz-2 rocket in Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Source: BusinessKorea