Chollian-1, Korea's first geostationary satellite, has completed its 16-year flight.
The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) said the disposal maneuver and component deactivation of Chollian-1 were completed at 1:32 a.m. Thursday.
The disposal was carried out by shutting off power to all of the satellite's payloads to end its mission, then moving the satellite to a disposal orbit, or graveyard orbit, about 300 kilometers higher than its existing geostationary orbit (at an altitude of approximately 35,786 kilometers).
After entering the disposal orbit, all remaining fuel inside the satellite was discharged, the propulsion and power systems were deactivated, and power was completely cut off, concluding all procedures.
When Chollian-1 launched in June 2010, Korea became the world's seventh nation to possess a weather observation satellite, carrying out independent weather, ocean observation and communication missions while reducing its dependence on other countries.
In particular, the weather payload captured about 560,000 images over roughly nine years, which were used to observe disaster-level weather phenomena such as typhoons and heavy rainfall. The ocean payload contributed to monitoring marine environments directly linked to public safety, including red tide observation in the West and South Seas and surveillance of marine pollution, through some 30,000 images. The communication payload provided Korea's first satellite communication test service using a geostationary satellite, earning recognition for laying the foundation for the development and commercialization of domestic satellite communication technology.
The satellite flew about 1.6 billion kilometers over 16 years, far exceeding its original design lifespan of seven years. This was made possible by KARI's adoption of efficient operating methods, including a newly introduced "inclined orbit operation method" in April 2021 that reduced north-south station-keeping maneuvers and significantly cut fuel consumption.
KARI explained that "the disposal maneuver of Chollian-1 goes beyond a simple mission termination and holds significant meaning in terms of Korea's full life-cycle operating capability for geostationary satellites and securing space sustainability."
When a satellite that has reached the end of its lifespan is left in orbit, it risks permanently losing space resources by causing collisions with other satellites or frequency interference. Accordingly, Chollian-1 carried out "active disposal," in which the operating institution itself controlled the satellite and moved it to a disposal orbit while it still had fuel remaining to carry out its mission.
Through this, Korea strictly complied with the international community's space debris reduction guidelines and was able to stably hand over its orbit and frequency resources to the follow-up satellite Chollian-3. In addition, the weather mission has been taken over by Chollian-2A, and the ocean mission by Chollian-2B.
KARI President Lee Sang-cheol said, "Chollian-1, by carrying out active disposal to clear the orbit for follow-up satellites following the stable completion of its mission, will become an important milestone proving the nation's full life-cycle operating capability for satellites."
