(Asia Pulse Businesswire via NewsEdge) South Korea has successfully launched the Arirang 2 multi-purpose satellite from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia aboard the 29m Russian booster Rockot.
The new $276-million satellite is equipped with an in-board camera that can take photos for about 20 minutes during each orbit. The camera can take photos of 15km-wide strips of land at every pass, and theoretically photograph the entire Korean Peninsula in about 2 minutes. It can travel at 6.8km a second and circle the globe every 100 minutes, or 14.5 times a day.
The satellite is expected to help South Korea make timely updates on geographical changes and assist in the search for natural resources.
The successful launching of the new satellite gives South Korea a total of nine satellites in space.
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