South Korea augments GPS with the launch of the KASS satellite

The image of KASS is courtesy of Dr. Gi Wook Nam – the Director of the SBAS R&D Division at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) — and the GNSS Asia publication. Dr Nam holds a PhD in Aeronautical Engineering from Cranfield University and has worked in the domains of Aeronautical Engineering and GNSS since 1988.

South Korea has successfully launched a precision aviation satellite to improve the accuracy and reliability of global positioning system (GPS) signals and better ensure flight safety, the government said and as reported in The Korea Herald.

The satellite for the Korea Augmentation Satellite System (KASS), the country’s first precision GPS location augmentation system, lifted off from Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, at 6:50 a.m. Thursday, July 14th (Seoul time), according to the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The satellite was successfully separated from the rocket at around 7:18 a.m. after the fairing and first stage rocket separations.

For KASS, South Korea leased Malaysia’s MEASAT-3d communication satellite for 15 years.

*Artistic rendition of the MEASAT-3d satellite.*

The system can improve the GPS position error to 1.0 to 1.6 meters from the current 15-33 meter level in real time to ensure information reliability throughout the country.

To read the entire news report by Yonhap, please access this direct infolink…