NEXT SPACEFLIGHT

Status

425 Project Flight 5

Launch Time
NET 2025

Rocket

Falcon 9 Block 5
Image Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX
Status: Active
Price: $69.75 million
Liftoff Thrust: 7,607 kN
Payload to LEO: 22,800 kg
Payload to GTO: 8,300 kg
Stages: 2
Strap-ons: 0
Rocket Height: 70.0 m
Fairing Diameter: 5.2 m
Fairing Height: 13.0 m

Mission Details

425 Project Flight 5

Launch of the fifth satellite in a contract of 5 reconnaissance satellites for the South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), with 1 satellite featuring an electro-optical infrared (EO/IR) telescope. The other 4 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites are to be launched at a later date.

They will be launched to low Earth orbit between 600 and 700 km by 2025, enabling South Korea’s military to observe the nuclear-armed neighbor’s key military facilities every two hours with 30-50 centimeters resolution imagery, according to a 2019 report produced by the Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning.

The project is led by the Korean Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), with input from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), Hanwha Systems, and Thales Alenia Space.

Payloads: 1
Total Mass: 800.0 kg
Sun-Synchronous Orbit

Location

CCSFS/KSC, Florida or VSFB, California, USA