South Korea CubeSat begins radiation mission on Artemis 2

April 2 (Asia Today) -- South Korea's CubeSat K-RadCube has begun operations in high Earth orbit after being deployed from NASA's Artemis 2 mission, marking a step toward developing capabilities for future crewed spaceflight.

The satellite was launched aboard the Artemis 2 crewed lunar mission from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and successfully established communication after deployment, South Korea's space agency said Wednesday.

K-RadCube was released into orbit at an altitude of about 40,000 kilometers and is currently undergoing initial stabilization. Authorities said communication may remain intermittent during the early phase and plan to conduct intensive monitoring over the next two days.

The satellite's primary mission is to measure space radiation across different altitudes within the Van Allen radiation belts, a region surrounding Earth where astronauts can be exposed to high levels of radiation during deep-space travel.

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Data collected from the mission will be used to analyze how space radiation affects astronauts traveling between Earth and the Moon, a key challenge for long-duration crewed missions.

The project was led by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, with participation from private companies including Nara Space, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix in design and manufacturing.

K-RadCube is also equipped with next-generation multi-chip modules and memory semiconductors to test the durability and performance of electronic components in a radiation environment.

Officials said the mission helps establish the foundation for South Korea to study the effects of space conditions on the human body, as global space powers accelerate plans for crewed missions to the Moon and Mars.

Moon Hong-kyu, a principal researcher at the institute, said space radiation remains one of the biggest obstacles to human exploration beyond Earth.

"K-RadCube represents Korea entering a stage where it can contribute to setting technical standards and safety benchmarks for the era of crewed space exploration," he said.

-- Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260402010000819