Goyang Drone Anchor Center Resident Company
3U-Class (10×10×30cm),
Approximately 3kg Ultra-Small Marine Environmental Observation CubeSat
Goyang Special City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Lee Donghwan) announced on December 31 that Quaternion Co., Ltd., an aerospace technology company based at the Goyang Drone Anchor Center, has successfully established communication between its ultra-small CubeSat 'PERSAT 01', which was loaded onto the fourth launch of the Korean launch vehicle Nuri, and the ground station after reaching its target orbit.
All 12 CubeSats that were carried alongside the main payload during the fourth launch of Nuri successfully established communication, and Quaternion's 'PERSAT 01' was also confirmed to be operating normally. This marks a milestone in which an environmental observation satellite developed by a domestic private company using its own technology has successfully demonstrated its performance in space via a Korean launch vehicle.
'PERSAT 01' is a 3U-class (10×10×30cm), approximately 3kg ultra-small CubeSat tasked with observing the distribution of marine debris and current patterns around Jeju Island and the surrounding waters of the Korean Peninsula.
Over the next six months, this satellite will collect and transmit observation data focused on the waters near Jeju, which will be used to analyze the movement paths and concentration areas of marine debris. It will also serve as an environmental observation satellite platform that can provide foundational data for local governments' marine environmental management and policy development.
Quaternion Co., Ltd. is a drone and space technology company founded by Song Yonggyu, Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Korea Aerospace University. The company has designed and manufactured specialized and commercial drones based on proprietary hardware and software technologies accumulated in the field of drone control.
For the development of 'PERSAT 01', the company achieved 100% localization of modules at the modular stage through rigorous environmental tests, including shock, acceleration, vibration, and thermal vacuum tests. The entire process of design, manufacturing, assembly, and testing was carried out using domestic technology, thereby securing a reference for future exports.
A city official stated, "The success of a CubeSat developed by a company based at the Goyang Drone Anchor Center in establishing space communication and performing environmental observation missions aboard a Korean launch vehicle demonstrates that Goyang is emerging as a future mobility hub city extending beyond drones into the space sector. We will continue to discover and support public service models based on drones and satellites by expanding cooperation with resident companies, universities, research institutes, and other local governments."
The city plans to further strengthen its status as a leading city in the K-drone and space industries by verifying satellite-drone convergence services and developing data utilization models through the companies based at the Anchor Center.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
