Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 24, 2026

CAS500

CAS500 is a series of Earth observation satellites developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).

Last revised
Jun 24, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
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393 w
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Wikipedia ↗
CAS500
Image of CAS500-1 satellite before launch
Country of originSouth Korea
OperatorKARI
ApplicationsEarth observation
Specifications
BusCAS500
Launch mass500 kg (1,100 lb)
RegimeSSO
Production
StatusIn Production
Built5
Launched3
Maiden launch22 March 2021

CAS500 (Compact Advanced Satellite 500) is a series of Earth observation satellites developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).12

Satellites

Launch of CAS500-1 source ↗

CAS500-1, (Korean: 국토위성 1호, transl. "Land Satellite No. 1"), is a prototype 500-kilogram (1,100 lb) class Earth observation satellite that was launched by South Korea at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 22 March 2021.3456 It is in a 500-kilometre (310 mi) Sun-synchronous orbit, inclined by 97.7 degrees or 15 orbits/day.

CAS500-2 was expected to launch in 2022 also on a Russian rocket, but the launch was cancelled after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.7819 The satellite was rescheduled to launch together with CAS500-4 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket101112 and later moved to another Falcon 9 flight which launched on 3 May 2026 at 7:00 UTC.131415

CAS500-3 was launched on 26 November 2025 on the South Korean launch vehicle Nuri.1617

References

References

  1. "CAS500 1, 2". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2025-11-27.
  2. "CAS500 (Compact Advanced Satellite 500) - eoPortal". www.eoportal.org. Archived from the original on 2024-09-30. Retrieved 2025-11-27.
  3. "Compact Advanced Satellite 500". Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  4. "With CAS500, South Korea launches journey toward private-led satellite development". SpaceNews. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  5. Park, Si-soo. "With CAS500, South Korea launches journey toward private-led satellite development".
  6. "Soyuz launches commercial satellite cluster". www.russianspaceweb.com. Retrieved 2025-11-27.
  7. "Canceled Russian Rocket Launches for Korean Satellites Spark Controversy, with Critics Warning of 'Disadvantage' in Contract Disclosure". m.dongascience.com. 2022-09-30. Retrieved 2025-11-27.
  8. Si-soo, Park (2022-03-02). "Russian sanctions throw South Korean satellite missions into uncertainty". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2025-11-27.
  9. "Launch of Space Weather Satellite 'Doyosat' Unlikely This Year; Arirang 6, CAS500-2 Also Face 'Uncertain' Future". m.dongascience.com. 2022-05-02. Retrieved 2025-11-27.
  10. "SpaceX's Falcon 9 to send two KAI satellites into space". koreajoongangdaily.joins.com. 2023-12-01. Retrieved 2025-11-27.
  11. "CAS500-2 & CAS500-4 4 - Space launch mission information". www.spacerealm.live. Retrieved 2025-11-27.
  12. Jones, Caleb. "Falcon 9 Block 5 | CAS500-2 & CAS500-4". Space Launch Now. Retrieved 2025-11-27.
  13. "CAS500-2 MISSION". SpaceX. Retrieved 2026-04-26.
  14. Piccin, Stefano (2026-05-03). "In orbita altri 7 satelliti della costellazione HEO di IRIDE". AstroSpace (in Italian). Retrieved 2026-05-03.
  15. "SpaceX sends 45 satellites to orbit in nighttime launch from California (video)". Space. 2026-05-02. Retrieved 2026-05-03.
  16. Mike Wall (2025-11-26). "South Korea launches Earth-observation satellite on homegrown Nuri rocket". Space. Retrieved 2025-11-27.
  17. "CAS500 3". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2025-11-27.