Seoul Confirms Russian Carrier Rocket to Put Korean Satellite Into Orbit in 2020

The Angara family of space-launch vehicles is designed to provide lifting capabilities of between two and 40.5 metric tons into low Earth orbit.

Seoul’s aerospace research institute on Tuesday confirmed that the Russian Angara-1.2 carrier rocket will put the South Korean KOMPSAT-6 satellite, also known as the Arirang 6, into orbit in 2020.

Earlier this month, Roscosmos space corporation said in a statement that the KOMPSAT-6 multipurpose satellite would be launched using Russia’s Angara-1.2.

“The ILS Angara 1.2 vehicle was evaluated as the most suitable to launch the Arirang 6 through international bidding after taking consideration of the price and credibility,” a Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) official was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency.

The Arirang 6 will be launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwestern Russia. The satellite’s main mission will be to detect disasters, the news agency reported.

In 2013, Seoul successfully launched the Arirang 5 satellite with the help of Russia’s Dnepr launch vehicle.

The Angara family of space-launch vehicles is designed to provide lifting capabilities of between two and 40.5 metric tons into low Earth orbit.

It has been in development since 1995 and was the first orbit-capable rocket developed by Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union to replace the older Proton-M rockets.