[Text: Observer Network columnist Yankee].
At 10:19 a.m. Pacific time on December 1 (2:19 a.m. Beijing time on December 2), South Korea's first military reconnaissance satellite, "Military Reconnaissance Satellite 1," was launched by the "Falcon 9" carrier rocket of the United States SpaceX at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in the United States, and completed the orbit entry procedure 78 minutes later.
Although due to the influence of the weather, the launch was two days later than expected, and more than 10 days later than the DPRK's "Wanli Jing-1" reconnaissance satellite, but for the South Korean satellite industry, which has suffered from "PUA" all the way, only two or ten days is really nothing.
By the way, this is also the 250th Falcon 9 in the first stage**, which is quite an auspicious number.
Through Europe and Russia, India also made do: the "Arirang" that is left and right
Due to the close relationship between relevant technologies and ballistic missiles, South Korea's early attempts to develop carrier rockets and satellites have been severely restricted by the United States. In December 1987, when the "Fifth Republic" was coming to an end, Chun Doo-hwan approved the "Aerospace Industry Promotion Act", and a number of defense companies, including Hanwha, began to work together with universities and institutesOn October 10, 1989, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) was established as a subsidiary of the Korea Institute of Mechanical Engineering, and sent nine students to the UK to learn Xi related technologies.
The end of the Cold War has made South Korea, as one of the "Asian Tigers," no longer need to lay out its space program in such a way of hiding its head and showing its tail. On August 10, 1992, the first satellite "Our Star 1" (1), funded by South Korea's ** and developed by the Kari team in the UK, was successfully launched by the Ariane 4 rocket at the French Guiana Space Center. However, the main R&D and manufacturing work of this small satellite, which weighs less than 50 kilograms, is still completed by the University of Surrey in the United KingdomThe construction of Our Star 2, launched in 1993, was carried out by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in collaboration with Kari, similar to the model used by South Korea to produce the Jang Bo Gao class by importing Type 209 conventional submarine technology from Germany during the same period.
With a power of only 30 watts, it is still in orbit after completing its last communication in 2004, and South Korea has announced that it will bring it back to Earth in the future when the technology matures. The picture below shows the theatrical version of the animation "Our Star No. 1 and Spotted Cow" released in 2014, which became a cute girl (voiced by Jung Yu-mi).
Similar to most countries, South Korea's first practical satellite to invest in the development of satellite manufacturing technology was also a communications satellite, named after the Korean national flower, "Infinity Flower" (Hibiscus Flower). However, due to the commercial nature of communication satellites, although the "Infinity Flower" series has developed from the "Infinity Flower 1" in 1995 to the "Infinity Flower 7" to be launched in 2024, its main contractor is Lockheed Martin in the United States and Thales Alenia Space (TASI) in Europe.
At a time when South Korea's satellite program was in full swing, North Korea, which was in the midst of a "March of Suffering", suddenly carried out its first space launch on August 31, 1998, and although the "Kwangsung-1" satellite failed to enter orbit, this has already stimulated South Korea. On May 26 of the following year, the "Our Star 3", independently designed and manufactured by South Korea, was launched. Compared with the first two satellites, which focused on figuring out the satellite test process, "Our Star 3" applied three-axis attitude control technology and had the basis for the development of earth observation satellites. In addition, due to funding constraints due to the impact of the "financial turmoil", the satellite did not continue to launch using Ariana and the Guyana launch site, but chose to cooperate with the lower-bidding Indian Space Research Organisation (IRSO) to lease its PSLV-C2 launch vehicle (with India's first remote sensing satellite and a German satellite).
For IRSO, which was not doing well at that time, the order delivered to South Korea's door this time was also a "charcoal in the snow", which was a good match.
At the same time, South Korea does not dare to forget the United States, which has loosened a little of its restraint on its space development. South Korea's first earth observation satellite, Arirang-1, which has real potential for military use, was not only jointly developed by Kari and the US company TRW, but was also launched by the US Minotaur-C carrier rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base. On December 21, 1999, the "Arirang-1" flew into space before the arrival of the new millennium, and with the technical help of the United States, South Korea further consolidated its superiority in the first round of the "space race" between the north and the southHowever, the technical limitations of the United States have made it possible for the satellite to shoot with a resolution of 66 meters of black and white**.
Such an "Arirang" (a similar situation happened in the same year with the "Infinity Flower 3", which will be mentioned below), undoubtedly disappointed South Korea, prompting Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun to be more determined to seek international cooperation in the field of space. While the U.S. can still exert some influence, most partners will not turn down an offer of "fairness on top of sincerity" as South Korea emerges from the financial turmoil. In 2006, Kari successfully invited the Israeli ELOP company to jointly develop the "Arirang-2", which is nearly twice as heavy as the "Arirang-1" sun-synchronous orbit satellite, and the photograph has a resolution of 1 meter (black and white) and 4 meters (color), which can be described as a qualitative improvement.
The Jews seized the business opportunity, and the ** people also heard the news. The Arirang-2 Rokot rocket launched at the Plesetsk launch site on July 28, 2006, was adapted by Russia from the Soviet heritage UR-100N intercontinental missile, which had similar throwing capabilities to the later Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile of North Korea.
South Korea, which has tasted the sweetness, seeks a wider range of cooperation. Under the impetus of Lee Myung-bak, who was born in Japan at the time, around 2010, the space technology cooperation between South Korea and Japan was very prosperous, and the "Arirang-3" was launched by an H-IIA rocket on Tanegashima Island, Japan, which is an important symbol of cooperation. However, as for the satellite itself, the core optics were provided by Astraum, a subsidiary of the European Aerospace Defence Corporation (EADS), which made the image resolution of Arirang 3, which was launched on May 18, 2012, further increased to 07 meters (black and white) 28 meters (colored).
At the same time, South Korea-Russia space cooperation continues. As early as 2006, after the launch of Arirang-2, Kari's development plan for the next 10 years showed "Samsung synchronization": in addition to "Arirang-3", the other two are "Arirang-3A", which has completed the localization of optical devices on the basis of "Arirang-3" and is equipped with infrared observation equipment, and "Arirang-5", which is equipped with synthetic aperture radar to further improve all-weather observation capabilities. In order to improve the accuracy of observations, the orbital altitude of the two satellites was reduced from 685 kilometers of the first three "Arirang" to less than 550 kilometers, and both were launched by Russian "Dnepr" launch vehicles (modified from R-36 intercontinental missiles).
The picture above shows the "Dnepr" launch vehicle, and the picture below shows the "Arirang" series of satellites. For the sake of "auspiciousness", the name "Arirang No. 4" was skipped and renamed "Arirang 3a".
The Arirang-5, which uses synthetic aperture radar developed in cooperation with Europe, was the first to be successfully launched on August 22, 2013. The 1,400-kilogram satellite has radar imaging capabilities of 1 meter (high resolution) and 3 meters (standard resolution), making it South Korea's heaviest home-made spacecraft to date. Affected by the progress of domestic devices and the ** chain problems of the rocket itself caused by the Crimea incident in 2014, the "Arirang 3A" was successfully launched on March 26, 2015 at the latest.
While the Arirang-2 has long maintained its capacity of four Earth observation satellites due to the fact that it is still in good condition after more than a decade of overdue service (it seems that the Jews have been paid enough to do their work), Kari has long maintained the size of four Earth observation satellites, but its more ambitious follow-up plans have already been hit hard by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Arirang-6 synthetic aperture radar observation satellite and the Arirang-7 0., which were originally signed in 2016 and are scheduled to be launched by the Angara launch vehicle3-meter optical observation satellite and "Arirang-7A" 0The 3-meter-class optical observation satellite (the localized version of the Arirang-7 spacecraft) has been postponed indefinitely due to sanctions against Russia in which South Korea participated, and the Arirang-6 is currently scheduled to be launched to Guyana in 2024 aboard ESA's Vega-C four-stage launch vehicle.
In the future, it will be difficult for anyone to say the surname "Angara".
The military must be involved in the United States, and the United States will suffer losses: the "425 cause" full of patches
However, for the South Korean National Intelligence Service and the South Korean Ministry of National Defense, Kari, who has been "colluding with Russia" for a long time, has suffered an unwarranted disaster due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and it is even a thing that can be secretly "happy to see". Since the right to use the "Arirang" series belongs to Karari according to the relevant laws and regulations of South Korea, both the National Intelligence Service and the Ministry of National Defense are only allowed to use some of the images taken by these satellites, but have no right to direct the observation and shooting plans of the satellitesTherefore, in the eyes of these two departments, the "Arirang" series, which costs a lot of money, is too "global vision and people's livelihood" and does not make due contributions to South Korea's monitoring of North Korea's nuclear and missile program.
On February 8, 2018, the Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missiles were jointly unveiled at Kim Il Sung Square, and the two missiles proved their practicality in actual test launches, allowing South Korea to finally pass the military reconnaissance satellite project required by the National Intelligence Agency and the Ministry of National Defense. Presumably to play a joke, South Korea's Ministry of National Defense named the military reconnaissance satellite project, which combines synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and electro-optical (EO) detection methods, "425 Project" (the pronunciation of "425" in Korean is very similar to "sareo", and April 25 is the anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army, the predecessor of the Korean People's Army).
It can be seen that the shape of the satellite pattern is still very similar to the "Arirang" series.
It's not over when the stalk is over, and there is also "**'s traditional art - infighting." As soon as they thought of having a real military reconnaissance satellite that does not need to be looked at by people, both the ROK National Intelligence Service and the Ministry of National Defense wanted to seize the lion's share, and this made the two sides fight openly and secretly over the matter of who should take the lead in the "425 project" for several years, and finally the National Assembly ruled that "the Ministry of National Defense should take the lead in the operation of the whole project, but the National Intelligence Agency should participate in the operation of the photoelectric detection satellite, and all satellite data should be shared." This is no different from "harmony and mud." In short, the original plan that five satellites (4 synthetic aperture radar and 1 optoelectronic infrared detection type) will be put into orbit in 2022 respectively, and the timetable for building an important link in the "kill chain" against the DPRK has been postponed by three years.
Despite the accumulation of the Arirang series and South Korea's experience in participating in a wide range of international space cooperation projects over the past 20 years, the R&D portfolio of the "425 Project" is relatively familiar: led by the Korea Defense Development Agency and KARI, with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Hanwha each showing their capabilities, and the main international collaborator is Thales Alenia Aerospace, the main contractor of the Infinity Flower 5 communications satellite. However, the "425 Project," which was born against the backdrop of rising confrontation in Northeast Asia, and the two users are far more controlled by the United States than Kari, and its launch sites and delivery vehicles cannot be left behind the United States like the "Arirang."
Then just put a screenshot of the Korean drama "The Fifth Republic".
The military must involve the United States, and the United States will suffer losses." South Korea has already experienced this point once in the development of South Korea's most important communications satellites, which are independent of the "425 project." The first three of the "Infinity Flower" series of communication satellites mentioned above were contracted by Loma Company, and when the "Infinity Flower No. 3" was launched in 1999, although the Ka-band channel with wider bandwidth used by military communication satellites was added, the number was only three, and the transmission power was insufficient, and the communication range was only as far as Southeast AsiaAs a result, when South Korea invested in the "Infinity Flower 5" (the jump number was also for Geely), it finally chose Thales Alenia's solution, with 12 KA band channels, and the communication range was expanded westward to the east coast of India and south to the north coast of Australia.
After the launch of the "Infinity Flower 5" in 2006, the ROK successively ordered three communication satellites, the "Infinity Flower 6", the "Infinity Flower 7" and the "Infinity Flower 5A". Before South Korea decided on the contract for the next generation of fighters in 2014, Loma suddenly announced that if South Korea chooses F-35, Loma will help South Korea manufacture military communication satellites "for free".
Loma does have strong strength in the aerospace field, and the question is whether to sell it to you or not.
As a result, after South Korea decided to introduce the F-35, Loma repeatedly delayed the satellite project, but in fact, the United States did not want to provide high-level military communications satellite technology to South Korea. In the end, South Korea had to agree to Loma to sign a subcontract with Airbus, and Airbus's subsidiary (specifically, Astraum, which had cooperated with South Korea as early as the "Arirang 3") ordered a "Eurostar E3000" for South Korea, that is, the "South Korea's first military communications satellite" launched on July 21, 2020 with the "Falcon 9" at Cape Canaveral Base in the United States - South Korea had to spend an additional 580 billion won for this.
The "South Korea-US Alliance" that he chose with his own life has to persist no matter how much he suffers. The same is true of the "425 Project," which has already burned more than 1.2 trillion won, although it is more than 10 days later than the DPRK's first military reconnaissance satellite, "Wanli Jing-1," which was launched one day ahead of the planned windowThe performance of the "Falcon 9" rocket, whose carrier - the first stage engine has been reused 16 times, is certainly powerful, but its black appearance is indeed not as good as the brand-new North Korean "Maxima 1" rocket, which is suitable for external propaganda. In short, in any case, the successful launch of the "Military Reconnaissance Satellite No. 1" on 2 December -- that is, the photoelectric infrared detection satellite -- finally announced that the "425 project" had been completed.1 5
0.The resolution index of 3 meters is advanced, and there is no doubt about the penetration ability of the "Global Hawk" UAV.
The purpose of the original planning of the "425 Project" was to complete a detailed inspection and monitoring of the entire territory of North Korea every two hours, an indicator basically set by the National Intelligence Agency and the Ministry of National Defense as early as 2016, apparently in response to the weakness that the vast majority of North Korea's ballistic missiles at that time used liquid fuel with a long pre-launch preparation time. However, with the development of North Korea's solid-fuel missiles in recent years, such as the Hwasong-11 series of tactical missiles, the Polaris series of medium-range missiles, and the Hwasong-18 intercontinental missile, and the realization of long-term fuel storage technology for some liquid-fuel missiles, the two-hour detailed inspection target is obviously not enough to insure.
Therefore, on February 9 this year, the South Korean Defense Procurement Office officially announced the "microsatellite project" to make up for the blindness of the "425" project. According to the relevant documents, South Korea plans to launch its first experimental satellite in the second half of 2026, and start launching multiple satellites in 2028 to form a network. More importantly, according to the spirit of the document, not only will the satellite itself be independently developed and produced by South Korea, but the launch will also be carried out using South Korea's self-made carrier rocket "World".
After the failed launch of the World rocket in 2021, it was successful twice in 2022 and 2023, but the next launch is planned for 2025.
However, due to the impact of its own technological development and the smooth road of international cooperation, the frequency of South Korea's space launches is still too low, low enough to maintain a normal aerospace industry chain, resulting in the high cost of its "workshop-produced" rockets, and there is no competitiveness in the face of the reusable "Falcon".
Now with the passage of time, the cost of the "425 project" has made people scratch their heads, and after the successful launch of the "Wanli Jing-1" by North Korea, it is difficult to say how much "irrational consumption" will be caused by South Korea's defense spendingWhether the "microsatellite project," which is positioned as a low-cost project to make up for the blind, can avoid another round of "PUA" that the United States is politically and technologically imperative to get, let us see whether the story of the "infinite flower" will once again befall this land that can never determine its own destiny.