Friday, August 10th, marks the 20th anniversary of the launch of the first Korean Institute of Technology Satellite (Kitsat A / Kitsat 1 / OSCAR 23). This was the first satellite of the Republic of Korea (South Korean). Its successful launch on August 10, 1992, from Guiana Space Centre, made South Korea the 22nd country to orbit a satellite.
Kitsat A was a "piggyback payload," flying into space along with the TOPEX/Poseidon mission. Kitsat A weighed 48.5kg, and it measured 35.2 x 35.6 x 67cm. The instruments aboard included a Packet Radio Mailbox, Digipeater, a CCD camera experiment and a synthesized voice experiment, and Earth Imaging System (EIS), using 2 CCD cameras. As of this writing Kitsat A is still in operation.
South Korea's aeronautics and space agency is the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). The main laboratories of KARI are located in Daejeon, in the Daedeok Science Town. Current KARI projects include the Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV) program. The agency was founded in 1989. Prior to South Korea's entry into Indonesian Aerospace (www.indonesian-aerospace.com) in 1992, KARI focused primarily on aerospace technology. To learn more, visit KARI's home page (Korean, www.kari.re.kr; English, www.kari.re.kr/eng/index.asp) .
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