KITSAT-1 or KITSAT-A (Korean Institute of Technology Satellite) is the first South Korean

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

to be launched. Once launched, the satellite was given the nickname "Our Star" ( 우리별). KITSAT-1 operated in a by

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...

(LEO). Of the 12 satellites launched by South Korea, KITSAT-1 is in the highest orbit. While KITSAT-1 maintains equilibrium by gravity gradient forces, magnetic torque can be used to control attitude if needed. The forecasted lifespan of KITSAT-1 was only five years, but communication with the satellite was maintained for 12 years. Since the launch of KITSAT-1, South Korea launched an additional 36 satellites by 2020.

Description

KITSAT-1 is considered to be a smallsat or

microsatellite A microsatellite is a tract of repetitive DNA in which certain Sequence motif, DNA motifs (ranging in length from one to six or more base pairs) are repeated, typically 5–50 times. Microsatellites occur at thousands of locations within an organ ...

. KITSAT-1 is the smallest

satellite that has been launched by South Korea.

Instruments

KITSAT-1's on-board computer (OBC) system uses an OBC186 for the main OBC and an OBC80 as the backup on-board computer system. KITSAT-1 carried a Digital Store and Forward Communication Experiment (DSFCE), a CCD Earth Imaging System (CEIS), a Digital Signal Processing Experiment (DSPE), and a Cosmic Ray Experiment (CRE). The CCD Earth Imaging System is equipped with two different cameras. These cameras are a wide-angle camera with a 4 km/pixel resolution and a high-resolution camera with a 400 m/pixel resolution. The two CCD cameras on KITSAT-1 are located on the bottom of the satellite so that the cameras should always be pointed toward

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

On board was equipment to run the Cosmic Ray Experiment (CRE). The experiment's main purpose was to monitor and study space radiation in a low Earth orbit. These space radiation measurements were to be taken in short and long time frames. The CRE is able to measure high-energy protons, galactic cosmic rays from deep space, and solar cosmic rays from solar flares. The CRE payload consists of two subsystems. The two subsystems are the Cosmic Particle Experiment (CPE) and the Total Dose Experiment (TDE). The CPE is used to measure the Linear Energy Transfer (LET) spectrum over short time frames, and the TDE is used to measure the total accumulated ionizing radiation dose over long time frames.

Launch

Launched in 1992, KITSAT-1, which stands for the Korea Institute of Technology Satellite-1, was the first satellite developed by SaTReC. Developed through a collaborative program between SaTReC and the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its Royal Charter, royal charter in 1966, along with a Plate glass university, number of other institutions following recommendations ...

, United Kingdom, the main objective of the KITSAT-1 program was to acquire satellite

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

through the training and education of satellite engineers. KITSAT-1 was placed in a 1320 km orbit with a 66°

orbital inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Earth ...

. This orbit lies just within the inner

Van Allen radiation belt The Van Allen radiation belt is a zone of energetic charged particles, most of which originate from the solar wind, that are captured by and held around a planet by that planet's magnetosphere. Earth has two such belts, and sometimes others ma ...

. The success of the KITSAT-1 program marked the beginning of space technology development for South Korea. KITSAT-1 was launched from

Centre Spatial Guyanais The Guiana Space Centre (; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas region of France in South America. Kourou is located approxim ...

(CSG) on 10 August 1992 on an Ariane 42P H-10

launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...

along with

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

TOPEX/Poseidon TOPEX/Poseidon was a joint satellite altimeter mission between NASA, the U.S. space agency; and CNES, the French space agency, to map ocean surface topography. Launched on August 10, 1992, it was the first major oceanographic research satellite. ...

satellite and France's S80/T satellite. Its launch weight was 48.6 kg, and it measured 35.2 cm x 35.6 cm x 67 cm. The console of the

UoSAT-5 satellite was used. With this launch, South Korea became the 22nd country to operate a satellite.

References

{{Orbital launches in 1992 Spacecraft launched in 1992 Satellites orbiting Earth Satellites of South Korea First artificial satellites of a country Amateur radio satellites KAIST Spacecraft launched by Ariane rockets

Description

Instruments

Launch

See also

References