KITSAT-3

KITSAT-3 was a South Korean remote sensing minisatellite which carried MEIS and SENSE instruments to low Earth orbit. Launched on 26 May 1999 by Indian space agency Indian Space Research Organisation, on orbit the satellite was renamed to Uribyol-3. Manufactured by KAIST Satellite Technology Research Center, KITSAT-3 was developed with experience from KITSAT-1 and KITSAT-2 and was the first independently designed South Korean satellite.

Launch

Kitsat-3 was launched in the PSLV-C2 mission by 26 May 1999 by Indian space agency ISRO at 06:22 UTC from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India. The launch was the first commercial launch by ISRO of its launch vehicle and US$1.0 million was charged by the Indian agency for launching and injecting the satellite in the low Earth orbit.

Mission highlights

First independently designed South Korean satellite
First commercial flight of the launch vehicle, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
Spacecraft attitude was first captured and 3-axis stabilized on 30 May 1999
First image obtained on 31 May 1999
Solar panels deployed on 24 June 1999
Design for life of 3 years
However, operations ended in December 2003