Dnepr launch vehicle is a rocket derived from strategic intercontinental-range missile RS-20 (15А18, dubbed Voyevoda), designed and developed in Yuzhnoye SDO, manufactured at Yuzhmash machine-building plant in partnership with Ukrainian and Russian enterprises. In accordance with START agreement the missiles, removed from service, are converted into launchers when their warheads are replaced with payloads.

KompSat-5 is the first South Korean synthetic aperture radar satellite of new generation. Satellite was developed by the National space agency of Korea – KARI (Korean Aerospace Research Institute).

KompSat-5 carries SAR (synthetic aperture radar) payload that will acquire high-quality images (nominal resolution in Spotlight mode is up to 1 m) as a result of all weather and all day observations of the Korean peninsula using the X band. KompSat-5 has a mass of 1316 kg and was designed to provide round-the-clock monitoring of Korean peninsula. Recurrent observation of the Earth surface and ocean will continue for five years. This was the eighteenth launch of Dnepr rocket. To date Dnepr has placed into the near-Earth orbits 63 spacecraft from 17 countries, including Ukraine, the USA, England, Germany, Japan, Korea, Russia, Egypt, France, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Malaysia and Turkey.

Yuzhnoye SDO Public Relations Center