Hancom Group, a South Korean ICT convergence company, has announced its ambitious plan to launch its first commercial satellite during the first half of next year.
The announcement was made on Thursday. The nanosized satellite, named Sejong 1, is under development with Spire Global Inc., a US-based space-based data provider. The satellite will collect various data and images.
The satellite is focused on the agriculture sector, including landscaping applications, and will further expand its image analysis to other areas, such as disaster monitoring.
The low earth orbit satellite will capture images every 90 minutes for up to 12 and 14 times a day from seven different angles, Hancom said.
“Hancom will push forward with bold and different investments to take the dominant position in the image analysis market,” said Choi Myung-jin, chief of Hancom InSpace, during an online press conference, reports Yonhap news agency.
Hancom said it expects to capture images of specific territories for its mapping solutions and provide further analysis depending on the needs of its clients.
Hancom said it plans to launch a constellation of up to five satellites equipped with this type of payload in order to develop its dedicated solution.