Successful Imaging of 3rd Stage, Performance Verification Satellite, and Satellite Mock-up
First Ever Achievement Using Own Space Surveillance Telescope Network
KAIST Astronomical Institute: "Monitoring Space Objects with Our Own Power"
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The success of the Nuri rocket launch has been confirmed through our telescope. For the first time in history, we succeeded in capturing images of the performance verification satellite, satellite mock-up, and the third stage of the Nuri rocket that reached orbit.
The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute announced on the 24th that it tracked and captured the Nuri rocket launch artificial space objects using 'Orbital Wide-field Light-collectors Network (OWL-Net)', a telescope network independently established by Korea.
The objects launched into the target orbit by the Nuri rocket include the dummy satellite, performance verification satellite, and the third stage of the launch vehicle. It was confirmed that the Nuri rocket successfully placed the performance verification satellite and dummy satellite into orbit.
The Astronomy Institute started tracking with OWL-Net Unit 2 located in Morocco at 8:20 PM (Korean time) on the 21st, 4 hours and 20 minutes after the launch, and captured the third stage of the launch vehicle and the dummy satellite between 12:52:03 PM and 1:03:26 PM on the 22nd. Additionally, OWL-Net Unit 0 located at the institute’s headquarters in Daejeon captured the Nuri rocket verification satellite between 3:49:36 AM and 3:50:23 AM on the 23rd. While the performance verification satellite communicated with the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) ground station, the dummy satellite and the third stage of the launch vehicle remain in orbit as Korean objects, making their tracking and observation meaningful.
The Nuri rocket was launched at 4 PM on the 21st and successfully inserted the launch vehicle verification satellite and dummy satellite into a 700 km altitude orbit. At 8 PM on June 21, the United States Combined Space Operations Center (CSpOC) of the U.S. Space Command released the first orbital information of three space objects (performance verification satellite, dummy satellite, and third stage of the launch vehicle). This information was relayed to the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute by the Republic of Korea Air Force, enabling immediate tracking and successful capture using OWL-Net.
OWL-Net is an observation system operated by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, the nationally designated space environment monitoring agency, and is Korea’s first unmanned optical surveillance dedicated system. It observes space objects around Earth such as artificial satellites, asteroids, and space debris. Observation stations are located in Korea, the United States, Israel, Morocco, and Mongolia. The system consists of a 50cm wide-field telescope, CCD cameras, and a high-speed satellite tracking mount.
The Astronomy Institute explained, "Thanks to OWL-Net, Korea has acquired the capability to independently secure satellite orbit data that was previously dependent on the United States," and added, "This system is being utilized to monitor geostationary satellites over the Korean Peninsula and potential collision candidates among space debris."
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