Arirang / KOMPSAT - Radar

The Arirang-5 radar satellite capable of observing the ground, regardless of rains or clouds, was launched by a Russian rocket. In March 2006, KARI signed a contract with Thales Alenia Space of Italy, TAS-I (formerly Alcatel Alenia Space), to provide an X-band SAR payload system for multi-mode observations, including the data link subsystem for gathering the data transmitted by the radar, archiving them and subsequently transmitting them to the ground station. In addition, the company would also provide the ground SAR image processor as well as the calibration algorithms and equipments.

KOMPSAT-5 is part of the Korean National Development Plan of MEST (Ministry of Education, Science and Technology) which started in 2005. The project is being developed and managed by KARI (Korea Aerospace Research Institute). The primary mission objective is to develop, launch and operate an Earth observation SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite system to provide imagery for geographic information applications and to monitor environmental disasters. KOMPSAT-5 is also referred to as the GOLDEN mission:

• GIS: Acquisition of independent high resolution SAR images
• Ocean & Land Management : Survey of natural resources
• Disaster & ENvironment Monitoring : Surveillance of large scale disasters and its countermeasure.

Scheduled for launch in 2019, the Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite Arirang 6 will be equipped with the SAR developed and manufactured in cooperation with the domestic industry. Arirang 6 will be mounted with an SAR with 0.5m-class resolution, a fourfold improvement compared to the 1m resolution of the first SAR mounted in Arirang 5.

South Korea's military plans to deploy five reconnaissance satellites, developed on its indigenous technology, by 2022 as part of its "Kill Chain" strategy to preemptively detect and destroy nuclear and missile threats from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Yonhap news agency reported on 08 August 2016. South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said that the arms procurement agency will hold an explanation session on for the project to develop its homegrown reconnaissance satellite. During the session, the agency plans to explain how to proceed on the project, while listening to potential developer companies. It reportedly has a plan to give the public notice of a bid in September 2016 and sign a deal with bidders by the end of 2016.

The military will spend about 1 trillion won (900 million U.S. dollars) on the project. The Agency for Defense Development under Seoul's defense ministry will develop synthetic aperture radar (SAR), while the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) will be responsible for development of electro-optica and infrared ray instruments. One homegrown satellite will be deployed first in 2020, with two set to be installed in 2021. The remaining two will be put into orbit in 2022. When deployed, those satellites will be capable of detecting the DPRK's mobile missile launchers within two to three hours on average. The indigenous satellite development is part of its Kill Chain system to preemptively detect and destroy the DPRK's possible missile attacks. The Kill Chain is South Korea's own missile defense program along with the Korea Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) system.