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RS : September - October 1999
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KOREANSAT
The Messenger
Japanese proposal
ISRO Initiatives
KOREANSAT
A communication satellite for South Korea
A communication satellite for South Korea, KOREANSAT, weighed 6,200 pounds (2,790 kg.) at launch, has been set into orbit by Western Europe’s 120th Ariane 42P Rocket, blasted-off from the European Space Agency (ESA) launch centre in Kourou, on the north-east coast of South America. This satellite will provide direct broadcast television and telecommunications over the Asia-Pacific region for South Korean communications operator Korea Telecom.
The Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the Co-operative Research Centre for Satellite Systems (CRCSS), Canberra have a plan to orbit a communications package on the Korean microsatellite KAISTSAT-4, scheduled for launch in 2002. A timing problem hit the GPS of the US Department of Defence - a constellation of 24 satellites used worldwide in time keeping, surveying, navigation, geophysical exploration and geodesy at around midnight GMT on August 21-22. The network of navigational satellites known as GPS, sailed through a critical transition as its clock was reset at zero, a long scheduled event with the potential to disrupt a wide range of military, business and consumer uses. With this 27 satellites in orbit about 11,000 miles (17,700 kms) above the Earth, handled the rollback successfully.
The Messenger
A mission to Mercury
The Messenger, a mission to Mercury will look to detect whether there is any water and ice in the polar craters. It will be a flagship-quality effort that, in tandem with a separate Pluto mission will help to seize the opportunity to complete NASA’s reconnaissance of the solar system.
Japanese proposal
RiceSat in 2002
Japanese researchers are to propose a new International Earth-observing satellite to monitor rice production across the Asian region. Dr. Shunji Murai the Chairman, Asian Society of Remote Sensing announced this, in Tokoyo, who calls the National Space Development Agency of Japan to launch the satellite in 2002. The proposal is for a Synthetic Aperture Radar with 10-20 meters resolution. A SAR, which has the ability to image at night, as well as regardless of the weather, would also be able to take advantage of the equatorial location of the region. This could lead to an extremely high re-visit rate — possibly daily. However, they might trade off the re-visit rate for increased resolution, by putting the satellite into a very low orbit. This would enable the satellite to record the state of individual rice paddies.
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