Tracking of space launch vehicles from overseas
KARI operates an overseas tracking station in Palau in the South Pacific. The Palau Tracking Station is a facility for tracking and checking the real-time flight position and launching vehicles' flight status and payloads. It can acquire flight information for the third-stage engine combustion section and receive satellite separation signals of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle (Nuri).
When the Naro was launched, it was necessary to carry a mobile telemetry system on a coast guard ship to seas near the Philippines. Moreover, there were many restrictions on the launch operation due to sea weather and constraints on the period of stay at sea. The Palau Tracking Station is equipped with a large 7.3m telemetry antenna and a satellite communication network on a site of about 28,000 m2; it can receive remote data and images from launch vehicles at a distance of about 1,700 km. The establishment of the Palau Tracking Station has enabled flight safety and regular launch missions by linking the Naro Space Center and the Palau Tracking Station to receive data on the flight position and flight status of the launch vehicle for the overall launch phases reliably.
* The remote data-receiving antenna at the telemetry ground station is a wireless communication system that can acquire real-time flight position, operation status, and characteristics (speed, acceleration, position, attitude, stage separation, satellite separation signal and pressure, temperature, voltage, and current) of launch vehicles and payloads (satellites). It is an essential system for launching missions and managing flight safety.
In preparation for the launch and operation of future space launch vehicles including the Nuri, KARI began a basic investigation to establish an overseas tracking station in 2012 and decided on Palau as the final candidate in 2014. The station opened on November 7, 2019 after construction and equipment installation and started full-scale operation after linking tests with the Naro Space Center's tracking system.