A project plan for the Chollian-6 satellite. [Korea AeroSpace Administration]
A project plan for the Chollian-6 satellite. [Korea AeroSpace Administration]

South Korea has launched full-scale development of Chollian-6, an environment and ocean monitoring satellite designed to track changes on and around the Korean Peninsula in real time.

Korea AeroSpace Administration, the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy, and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced Tuesday that their jointly planned Geostationary Environment and Ocean Satellite (Chollian-6) Development Project had passed the national research and development preliminary feasibility review.

Chollian-6 will take over the mission of Chollian-2B, the world's first geostationary environment and ocean satellite, which launched in 2020. The project will receive about 769.4 billion won ($556 million) in total funding, with development running for seven years from 2027 before a 2033 launch.

The project will develop the satellite's environment and ocean payloads using domestic technology. The satellite system and main body will also be led by domestic industry, marking a full shift toward a private-sector-driven satellite development model.

Observational capabilities will be significantly enhanced. While Chollian-2B alternated between its environment and ocean payloads on a 30-minute cycle, Chollian-6 will operate both simultaneously and extend the observation window to 60 minutes. A hybrid propulsion system combining chemical and electric propulsion — replacing the conventional chemical-only approach — will also be developed and applied.

The environment payload will be upgraded to observe atmospheric pollutants such as ozone, aerosols and nitrogen dioxide across East Asia at a resolution down to the average neighborhood level. Spatial resolution will improve from 7-by-8 kilometers to 4.5-by-5 kilometers. New visible-light channels covering 540 to 740 nanometers will be added to improve the accuracy of ozone and aerosol observations within roughly 2 kilometers of the surface, while also generating new data on nighttime light intensity and solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence.

The ocean payload will expand from 12 to 16 channels and add five polarization channels. The signal-to-noise ratio will improve by about 30 percent, rising from 788 to 1,030. These upgrades will allow more detailed classification of harmful algal blooms and extend monitoring to sea fog, broadening the scope of coastal ocean environment observation.

A plan for utilizing observational data from the Chollian-6 satellite. [Korea AeroSpace Administration]
A plan for utilizing observational data from the Chollian-6 satellite. [Korea AeroSpace Administration]

Once Chollian-6 enters full operation, authorities expect it to detect atmospheric changes caused by ultrafine dust, ground-level ozone and wildfires — as well as ocean anomalies such as red tides, oil spills and low-salinity water intrusions — more quickly and accurately than current systems.

The project also carries significant weight in terms of technological self-reliance. Securing domestic geostationary satellite payload technology, a hybrid propulsion system, and simultaneous environment and ocean observation capability is expected to raise the technology independence of South Korea's satellite industry while also opening a path into the overseas geostationary satellite market.

"Chollian-6 is a core national space asset that will continuously monitor the atmospheric and ocean environment directly affecting people's daily lives," said Kim Jin-hee, head of the satellite division at KASA. "Through the transition to a private-sector-led satellite development model, we will expand domestic development of key technologies and strengthen the competitiveness of the space industry."


nbgkoo@heraldcorp.com