Successful active disposal proves South Korea's full life-cycle capability for geostationary satellites

The Chollian-1 satellite. [Korea Aerospace Research Institute]
The Chollian-1 satellite. [Korea Aerospace Research Institute]

South Korea's Chollian-1 weather observation satellite, which monitored meteorological conditions, ocean environments and atmospheric quality around the Korean Peninsula, has completed its mission and been retired.

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute said it successfully completed the deorbit maneuver and component deactivation of Chollian-1 — South Korea's first geostationary satellite — at 1:32 a.m. Monday, formally ending the satellite's operations.

The disposal involved cutting power to all onboard instruments to end the satellite's mission, then moving it from its original geostationary orbit at an altitude of roughly 35,786 kilometers to a graveyard orbit approximately 300 kilometers higher.

Launched in June 2010, Chollian-1 far outlasted its designed service life of seven years, successfully carrying out weather and ocean observation as well as communications missions for 16 years — marking a milestone in South Korea's space development history.

The satellite's operation expanded the country's capabilities, which had previously centered on low-Earth orbit, into the design, assembly, testing and operation of mid- to large-scale geostationary satellites.

With the launch of Chollian-1, South Korea became the seventh country in the world to operate a meteorological satellite, joining the United States, Europe, Japan, China, India and Russia. The country had previously relied on weather data from foreign satellites, including Japan's, but could now gather its own independent meteorological observations.

The weather instrument captured more than 560,000 images over roughly nine years, widely used to monitor severe weather events such as typhoons and heavy rainfall. The ocean instrument contributed to marine environment monitoring directly tied to public safety — including tracking red tides in the Yellow Sea and South Sea and detecting marine pollution — through more than 30,000 images. The communications instrument provided South Korea's first satellite communications test service using a geostationary satellite, laying a solid foundation for the development and commercialization of domestic satellite communications technology.

KARI operated Chollian-1 for 16 years after launch, during which the satellite traveled approximately 1.6 billion kilometers. Starting in April 2021, the institute introduced an inclined-orbit operation mode that reduced north-south station-keeping maneuvers, significantly cutting fuel consumption. That efficient approach enabled the satellite to operate for more than twice its designed service life.

Chollian-1's Earth observation duties have been seamlessly handed off to its successors: Chollian-2A now handles weather observation and Chollian-2B covers ocean monitoring.

"Chollian-1 is South Korea's first geostationary satellite, having successfully carried out weather and ocean observation and communications missions over the past 16 years," KARI President Lee Sang-cheol said. "Following the stable completion of its mission, it has now performed an active disposal to clear the orbit for successor satellites — this will stand as an important milestone proving our national capability to operate a satellite across its entire life cycle."


nbgkoo@heraldcorp.com