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Arirang 6. (KARI) |
South Korea once again postponed the launch of the country’s multipurpose satellite Arirang 6 to early 2026.
Arirang 6 is a multi-purpose practical satellite that was developed independently by Korean engineers and capable of capturing high-resolution images with a sub-meter resolution. It can identify objects as small as 50 centimeters.
The reliance on foreign launch vehicles has made it difficult to set a firm launch date. According to sources from the Korea AeroSpace Administration and science community on Monday, European launch service provider Arianespace unilaterally informed the government that the launch of Arirang 6 would be postponed to the first quarter of 2026.
Arirang 6 was originally scheduled to launch in 2022 using Russia’s Angara launch vehicle, but the launch was delayed due to the Russo-Ukraine war. The government then signed a new contract with Arianespace in Europe, but Arianespace’s Vega-C rocket encountered technical issues.
The launch, which was initially pushed from December 2023 to December 2024, was delayed again to the second half of 2025 and now to next year.
With the launch delayed four times, Arirang 6 is now being stored at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute in Daejeon.
Experts noted that this highlights Korea’s lack of an independent, ready-to-launch space vehicle, and, according to the current national space development plan, there are also no expectations that the issue will be resolved within the next 10 years.
Sources said that the next-generation medium satellite No. 2, which was originally supposed to launch with Arirang on the Russian Angara in 2022, is also still waiting for its launch as of Monday. The Arirang 7 launch has similarly faced repeated delays and is now scheduled for the second half of 2025.
“If a foreign launch service provider says there is a delay, we simply have to accept it,” an industry insider said. “There are no alternatives.”
When completed satellites are awaiting their launch date, it means that the wasteful expenditure of taxpayer money amounting to tens of billions of won, all because Korea is yet to secure a self-reliant space launch vehicle that can launch satellites.
While there are private companies like Innospace in Korea, they focus on small launch vehicles and are not capable of launching large satellites like Arirang 6 or the next-generation medium satellite No. 2. The country does have the mid-to-large-scale launch vehicle Nuri, but it is still not yet capable of launching large satellites.
Only three test launches have been conducted to date, and launching satellites like Arirang 6 would require custom modifications to the fairing and structural components. This is why there is growing support within the scientific community for additional Nuri launches and upgrades.
The Korea AeroSpace Administration reportedly requested a budget of about 100 billion won ($73.7 million) for the 7th Nuri launch, although it is only for another basic launch and not for any upgrade work.
“The next-generation launch vehicle will not be operational until 2035,” Professor Shin Eui-seop of Jeonbuk National University’s Department of Aerospace Engineering said. “Without additional Nuri launches, there will be a nearly 10-year gap in Korea’s space launch capabilities, and we will be unable to avoid delays caused by relying on foreign launch providers.”
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