Korea’s First Agricultural and Forestry Satellite to Launch on July 7... Entire Peninsula to Be Observed Every Three Days Starting Next Year

Next-Generation Medium-Sized Satellite No. 4 to Launch at 4:10 p.m. on July 7

Launch Success to Be Confirmed About Three Hours After Liftoff

Korea’s first Agricultural and Forestry Satellite will be launched on July 7. Starting next year, this will make it possible to observe the entire Korean Peninsula every three days, enabling its use for farmland utilization surveys and agricultural supply-demand management, among other applications. The success of the launch, including satellite separation and communication, can be confirmed about three hours after liftoff.

On July 5, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced that, with the launch of the Next-Generation Medium-Sized Satellite No. 4, also known as the Agricultural and Forestry Satellite, it will begin full-scale promotion of a data-driven scientific agriculture policy by advancing the collection, analysis, and utilization system of satellite data across agricultural policy.

Agriculture and Forestry Satellite (Next-Generation Medium-Sized Satellite No. 4)

This Agricultural and Forestry Satellite has been jointly developed by the Korea Aerospace Administration, the Rural Development Administration, and the Korea Forest Service. The launch is scheduled for July 7 at 4:10 p.m. Korea Standard Time (July 7, 0:10 a.m. local time) from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in the United States, using SpaceX’s Falcon-9 launch vehicle.

Kim Jungwook, Policy Chief for Agricultural Industry Innovation at the Ministry, explained, “The Agricultural and Forestry Satellite is Korea’s first independently developed satellite specialized for agriculture and forestry, created with our own technology to reduce dependence on foreign satellites and to establish a stable national public observation infrastructure. The satellite is capable of 5-meter resolution, a swath width of 120 km, and regular imaging of the entire Korean Peninsula every three days. It is equipped with five spectral bands advantageous for assessing crop and forest resource growth, providing a precise observation foundation tailored to Korea’s agricultural and forestry structure.”

The Ministry plans to address key policy needs such as farmland utilization surveys, public direct payment compliance inspections, agricultural supply-demand adjustment, response to agricultural disasters, management of agricultural water and infrastructure, and forest disaster and growth monitoring. At the same time, it aims to actively support the private sector in developing a “Korean Agricultural Proprietary AI Foundation Model” by combining major crop information, weather, soil, and environmental data with satellite imagery that reflects the characteristics of farmland nationwide.

Initially, the Ministry will gradually build satellite-based services in areas with high policy demand and significant utility. Comprehensive surveys of farmland at a regional level will reduce the manpower, time, and costs required for field inspections for programs such as direct payment and production adjustment, while also improving the accuracy of assessments. In addition, ongoing non-face-to-face verification of farm management information will provide accurate data to those administering subsidy programs and help prevent fraudulent claims.

The satellite will also be used for agricultural supply-demand management and to provide cultivation guidelines. It will enable continuous collection of information on the cultivated area of supply-sensitive crops such as vegetables and growth monitoring of food crops like rice and soybeans, allowing for production forecasts and proactive responses to sharp price fluctuations. The Ministry expects that it will also quickly detect early signs of crop growth anomalies caused by pests and diseases from abnormal weather, enabling timely control measures.

The Agricultural and Forestry Satellite will also play a role in the management of agricultural water and infrastructure and in responding to agricultural and forestry disasters such as wildfires. It will repeatedly observe reservoirs, irrigation facilities, and flooded farmland on a broad scale to manage water resources and infrastructure. This will not only support routine water management, but also enable swift and objective assessment of flood damage, securing the golden time for recovery and enabling immediate support, thereby enhancing disaster response capabilities. Furthermore, it will allow for rapid assessment of the scale of damage from wildfires, landslides, and other disasters in forested and mountainous areas, aiding in recovery decisions and providing a proactive response to forest disasters.

In addition, using wide-area satellite data, the Ministry will systematically support the monitoring and regular updating of rural space utilization at the city, county, and township levels, from spatial planning to management. The government also plans to gradually open up satellite data and, based on big data collection, provide cultivation monitoring and guideline services to help realize unmanned autonomous farming operations and meet new private sector demand. Satellite-based predictions of flowering and foliage timing will also be provided at the city, county, and township levels, allowing anyone to forecast the timing of blooming and autumn leaves in their area.

To increase utilization of the Agricultural and Forestry Satellite, the Ministry has been operating the “Agricultural and Forestry Satellite Utilization Policy Council” since 2024, which consists of the Rural Development Administration, the Korea Forest Service, private sector experts, and others. The Ministry plans to further strengthen private sector participation going forward. It will also enhance linkages with the Agricultural e-Information System, agricultural observation, disaster insurance, forest information systems, and other platforms, as well as collaboration with related ministries to maximize outcomes. In particular, the Ministry will work with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which successfully launched the National Land Satellite No. 2 (Next-Generation Medium-Sized Satellite No. 2) in May, to further advance the utilization and quality of satellite data.

Kim added, “The launch of this Agricultural and Forestry Satellite is significant as it establishes an independent model that revolutionizes the collection of essential agricultural policy data for the field, without relying further on foreign satellite imagery. Moving forward, centered on the Agricultural and Forestry Satellite, we will establish a data-driven decision-making system with precision, wide-area coverage, and timeliness in key agricultural policy fields such as farmland surveys, direct payment programs, supply-demand, disasters, agricultural water resources, and forestry, thereby delivering tangible results in scientific agricultural policy that the public can experience.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.