Five out of the total of eight satellites separated from Korea's domestically developed space rocket Nuri, successfully entered their target orbits and are sending signals. Meanwhile, attempted communication with the remaining three satellites are “still ongoing.” The main payload, Next Generation Small Satellite, or NEXTSat-2, successfully entered its target orbit and two-way communication was made, the Ministry of Science and ICT confirmed Friday. The King Sejong Station, a research station for the Korea Antarctic Research Program situated on the Barton Peninsula, first received a signal from the satellite at 7:07 p.m. from KAIST’s Satellite Technology Research Center (Satrec) in Daejeon. Then the center succeeded in sending a signal back to the satellite at 7:58 p.m. The 179.9-kilogram NEXTSat-2, developed by the KAIST's Satrec, is equipped with a small-sized synthetic aperture radar.
