Russia Launches Satan Missile With S Korean Kompsat 3A Satellite – Ministry

Russian Strategic Missile Forces have successfully launched an RS-20B (SS-18 Satan Mod. 4) intercontinental ballistic missile carrying a South Korean satellite, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Igor Egorov has announced.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The launch was completed at 01:08 a. m. Moscow time on Thursday (22:08 GMT on Wednesday) from the Yasny launch site located in Russia's Orenburg Region, according to the spokesman.

The RS-20B missile will deliver the South Korean Kompsat-3A satellite into orbit. Kompsat-3A, developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), will be used for environmental, agricultural and oceanographic monitoring applications and will help produce high-resolution electro-optical images required for Geographical Information Systems (GIS).

The launch is conducted within the framework of the Dnepr Program, which is a commercial space launch system that uses SS-18 Satan ICBMs that are being withdrawn from service.

The modernization of RS-20Bs, developed in Ukraine, into the Dnepr carrier rockets, is conducted by the Kosmotras international space company (ISC). Dnepr launches are carried out from the Baikonur and Yasny launch centers.