Santa barbara county: A South Korean Earth-observation satellite has been successfully launched into low-Earth orbit from a U.S. base. The launch took place at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California, where SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday (local time), carrying a total of 45 payloads.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the mission has been named CAS500-2, in reference to the primary satellite, Compact Advanced Satellite 500-2, developed by Korea Aerospace Industries. This next-generation midsized satellite is designed for purposes such as disaster monitoring and agricultural observation.
The CAS500-2 was initially planned to be launched aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket in 2022. However, the deployment was delayed due to geopolitical tensions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.