The Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Choi Ki-young, MSIT), the Ministry of Environment (Minister Cho Myung-rae), and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (Minister Moon Seong-hyeok, MOF) announced that the Geostationary Earth Orbit Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite 2B (3.4 ton, hereafter Cheollian 2B) was successfully launched from the Guiana Space Center in Guiana, Kourou, French Guiana, South America around 7:18 a.m. on February 19th (Wednesday) (around 7:18 p.m. on February 18th Korean time). 

The Cheollian 2B separated smoothly from the Ariane-5 launch vehicle approximately 2,580km from the earth 31 minutes after launch, and initiated contact with the ground station in Yatharaga, Australia* six minutes later (37 minutes after launch), at 7:55 a.m. (7:55 p.m. Korean time). 

*Four ground stations outside Korea (Fucino, Italy; Yatharagga Western Australia Space Center, Australia; Santiago, Chile; and South Point, Hawaii, the U.S.) are working with the Korean team to maintain constant contact with the satellite during the initial operation period.

Korea Aerospace Research Institute (President Lim Cheol-Ho, KARI) ed through the contact that the overall status of the Cheollian 2B was sound and it had settled in the transfer orbit targeted by the rocket.

Over the next two weeks, the Cheollian 2B will change transfer orbits five times until reaching a geostationary orbit 36,000km above the earth. Once the satellite has settled in the geostationary orbit, it will go through an orbital testing procedure for several months. This optimization process corrects the onboard system and observation data. The observation data properties that were slightly altered during the launch process are run through a software program that is dedicated to calculating data on the atmospheric and marine environments to ensure the accuracy of the output. When the process is completed, the satellite will provide atmospheric environment data from 2021 and marine environment data from October 2020. 

The Cheollian 2B development program started in 2011 and was finished nine years later, thanks to the hard work of everyone involved. It is the first geostationary satellite that can observe airborne aerosols, including fine dust, and the concentrations of gaseous pollutants that generate fine dust in the atmosphere. The satellite will provide weekly observation data over Asia, from Japan in the east to the northern region of Indonesia and the southern region of Mongolia in the west. The output is expected to pinpoint the areas in Asia where airborne fine dust originates and develops, the routes through which foreign fine dust flows to reach the Korean Peninsula, and the areas of origin of high fine dust concentrations in Korea.

The Cheollian 2B will lead international environmental surveillance with other geostationary orbit meteorological satellites of the U.S. (to be launched after 2022) and Europe (to be launched after 2023), and will contribute to the international efforts to protect the environment by providing meteorological information to other countries in Asia.

Also, the Cheollian 2B will take over the marine observation duties of the Cheollian 1 and perform them with more advanced specifications*.

* 4 times higher resolutions (500→250m), 2 times wider data collection (13 types→26 types), 18 times faster data transfer speed (6.2→115Mbps), etc.

The satellite is expected to provide more accurate real-time data on the movements of the pollutants (e.g. green and red tides, oil spills, and marine waste) that can severely damage the marine environment off Korea.

The satellite will contribute to marine environmental research as well by measuring various maritime phenomena, including sea fog, thawing, Fisheries Management Index, and salinity concentration.

The organizations involved in the development and operation of Cheollian 2A and 2B will continue the effort to fully utilize the observation data through communications and close cooperation.

The combination between the Cheollian 2B's atmospheric and marine observation data and 2A's observation data is expected to increase the accuracy of observation and generate additional usage of the information for other sectors. 

The U.S. and European countries have expressed great interest in the combined use of the Cheollian 2A and 2B that allows a simultaneous observation of weather conditions, and atmospheric and marine environments.

"Thanks to the passion and dedication of many people involved in this project, we just successfully launched the Cheollian 2B. This is a timely achievement for Korea, allowing an independent observation of the Asian atmospheric environment," stated President Jang Yoon-seok of the National Institute of Environmental Research at the launch site. "This satellite will serve as a momentous foundation for improving the accuracy of fine dust forecasts. We will keep doing our best to protect the public health and the quality of life of people by proactively predicting and reacting to future environmental problems."