Seoul, May 2 South Korea's small satellite designed to measure space radiation will take part in the Artemis II mission, a US-led moon exploration programme, the Korean space agency said Friday.
The mission is part of an agreement between the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) and the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), signed in October last year, Yonhap news agency reported.
The K-RadCube, a Korean-made cube satellite, will be mounted on the Orion stage adapter, located between the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the crewed Orion spacecraft.
The 19-kilogram satellite will monitor cosmic radiation and analyse its effects on astronauts as it passes through the Van Allen radiation belts, located more than 1,000 kilometers above Earth.
The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute is leading the development project of the satellite in collaboration with a Korean space startup, Nara Space Technology.
KASA said it plans to deliver the satellite to NASA by July, ahead of its integration into the Orion spacecraft, which is scheduled to launch in April 2026.
Artemis II is a planned mission under the NASA-led Artemis programme and will mark the first crewed mission to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
KASA signed a study agreement on the Artemis programme with NASA in October 2024. The agreement is aimed at conducting research projects for sustainable exploration of the Moon and preparations for Mars exploration.
The projects also include lunar surface science and autonomous power, robotics, and mobility systems, as well as activities in the cis-lunar space, which refers to the region of space between the Earth and the Moon.
South Korea is one of the 47 countries that have signed the Artemis Accords.
Meanwhile, the SPHEREx -- a space telescope jointly developed by KASA and NASA -- has officially begun science operations.
SPHEREx, which was launched on March 11, will take approximately 3,600 images per day over the next two years as it systematically surveys the entire sky, according to NASA.
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