Arirang-2

Arirang-2, also known as KOMPSAT-2, is a South Korean multipurpose satellite. It was launched from Plesetsk, Russia at 4:05 PM KST on 28 July 2006. It began to transmit signals at 11 PM the same day. Like the earlier Arirang-1 satellite, it takes its name from the popular Korean folk song Arirang. Its launch was the culmination of a project begun in 1999.

Arirang-2 orbits at a height of 685 kilometers, circling the Earth 14 times per day, and is expected to maintain that orbit for 3 years. It weighs 765 kilograms.^[1]

The satellite carries a high-powered digital camera which can distinguish to a 1-meter resolution, allowing the identification of individual vehicles on the ground.^[2] Among other purposes, this will allow the South Korean intelligence service to observe North Korean military activities. Prior to the launch of this satellite, the South Koreans had been largely dependent upon surveillance information provided by the United States.

The satellite was succeeded by Arirang-3 and Arirang-3A, which were launched on 2012 and 2015 respectively.

History

South Korea started the KOMPSAT programme in 1995 to nurture its national Earth-imaging industry and supply services for remote-sensing applications. The South Korean KOMPSAT-2 Earth-imaging satellite was developed by KARI (Korea Aerospace Research Institute), in partnership with EADS Astrium, to assure continuity with the KOMPSAT-1 satellite launched in 1999. KOMPSAT-2 was orbited on 28 July 2006 by a Rockot launcher from Plessetsk, Russia. Spot Image was the distributor of KOMPSAT-2 imagery until April, 2011. SI Imaging Services is the worldwide exclusive distributor of KOMPSAT imagery including KOMPSAT-2 since November, 2012.

Technologies

Orbit

KOMPSAT-2 operates in a near-polar, circular Sun-synchronous orbit. The orbital parameters are:

Mean altitude: 685 km
Mass: 800 kg
Inclination: 98° (Sun-synchronous)
Orbital period: 1hr 38 min 27 sec
Orbital cycle: 28 days

Instruments

KOMPSAT-2’s instruments are designed to acquire high- and very-high-resolution imagery with a footprint of 15 km. The satellite has the capacity to acquire 20 minutes of imagery on each orbit and it can steer its sensors both ways out to 30° off track. Panchromatic and multispectral images can be acquired at the same time. KOMPSAT-2 radiometer features:

Kompsat-2 radiometric parameters
mode	Channel	Spectral band	Spatial resolution	Footprint
Multispectral	1	0,45 - 0,52 µm (blue)	4 m	15 km
	2	0,52 - 0,60 µm (green)	4 m	15 km
	3	0,63 - 0,69 µm (rouge)	4 m	15 km
	4	0,76 - 0,90 µm (near-infrared)	4 m	15 km
panchromatic	P	0,50 - 0,90 µm (black and white)	1 m	15 km

Ground receiving stations

Two receiving stations deliver KOMPSAT-2 imagery 1 to 3 days after acquisition and in under 24 hours in Europe. The Deajeon station in South Korea is responsible for tasking the satellite. The Toulouse station in France is responsible for updating the catalogue, producing imagery and delivering it to its customers.

Advantages and applications of KOMPSAT-2 imagery

KOMPSAT-2 is designed for very-high-resolution (VHR) remote-sensing applications, such as:

Land planning: to detect and identify features smaller than 1 sq.m., e.g. vehicles, street furnishings, roads and bushes
Agriculture: to pinpoint crop or tree diseases
Urban planning and demographics: to locate detached houses
Defence: to describe high-value assets or military sites
Civil engineering: to plan road, railroad and oil pipeline corridors

References

^ "Multipurpose satellite Arirang 2 set for launch". Korea Herald, 28 July 2006. Retrieved 29 July 2006. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
^ "Arirang-2 to Monitor North Korea". Korea Times 23 July 2006. Retrieved 29 July 2006. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)

External links

[1] "Multipurpose satellite Arirang 2 set for launch". Korea Herald, 28 July 2006. Retrieved 29 July 2006. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)

[2] "Arirang-2 to Monitor North Korea". Korea Times 23 July 2006. Retrieved 29 July 2006. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)

[1]

[2]

v t e ← 2005 Orbital launches in 2006 2007 →
January	New Horizons Daichi
February	EchoStar X MTSAT-2 Akari, CUTE-1.7 + APD Arabsat-4A
March	Spainsat, Hot Bird 7A ST-5 FalconSAT-2 Soyuz TMA-8
April	JCSAT-5A COSMIC Astra 1KR Progress M-56 EROS-B Yaogan 1 CALIPSO, CloudSat
May	Kosmos 2420 GOES 13 / EWS-G1 Satmex 6, Thaicom 5
June	Resurs-DK No.1 KazSat-1 Galaxy 16 USA-187, USA-188, USA-189 Progress M-57 Kosmos 2421 USA-184
July	STS-121 (MPLM) INSAT-4C Genesis I Kosmos 2422 BelKA, Baumanets, PicPot, SACRED, ION, Rincon 1, ICECube-1, KUTESat Pathfinder, SEEDS, nCube, HAUSAT-1, MEROPE, CP-2, AeroCube-1, CP-1, Mea Huaka'i, ICECube-2 Arirang-2
August	Hot Bird 8 JCSAT-3A, Syracuse 3B Koreasat 5
September	Shijian 8 STS-115 (ITS P3/4) IGS-3A Chinasat-22A Kosmos 2423 Soyuz TMA-9 Hinode, HIT-SAT, SSSAT USA-190
October	DirecTV-9S, Optus D1, LDREX MetOp-A Progress M-58 Shijian 6C, Shijian 6D STEREO Sinosat-2 XM-4
November	USA-191 Badr-4 USA-192
December	Fengyun 2-05 WildBlue 1, AMC-18 STS-116 (ITS P5, SpaceHab LSM, ANDE-MAA, ANDE-FACL, RAFT1, MARScom, MEPSI-2) MEASAT-3 USA-193 TacSat-2, GeneSat Kiku 8 SAR-Lupe 1 Meridian 1 Kosmos 2424, Kosmos 2425, Kosmos 2426 CoRoT
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).