S. Korean Earth-Observation Satellite Launched From US Base

SEOUL, May 3 (Bernama-Yonhap) -- A South Korean Earth-observation satellite has been launched into low-Earth orbit from a US base, Yonhap News Agency reported.

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California, at 11.59 pm Saturday (local time), carrying 45 payloads.

The mission has been dubbed CAS500-2, after the primary satellite called Compact Advanced Satellite (CAS) 500-2 from Korea Aerospace Industries. The next-generation midsized satellite No. 2 was developed for disaster monitoring and agricultural observation.

The CAS500-2 had originally been scheduled to launch on a Russian Soyuz rocket in 2022, but the deployment was delayed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

-- BERNAMA-YONHAP