Korea's first satellite for satellite laser ranging

Science Technology Satellite-2 (STSAT-2) has been developed since October 2002 as a sequel mission to KAISTSAT-4 (STSAT-1). STSAT-2 is scheduled to be launched into an ellipsoidal orbit of 300km×1500km in December 2005 by the first Korea Satellite Launch Vehicle KSLV-1. STSAT-2 has two payloads: a Lyman-α imaging solar telescope and a laser reflector array (LRA) for satellite laser ranging. The paper first presents a brief introduction to the STSAT-2 program. Preliminary designs of the LRA payload and STSAT-2 are provided with anticipated performance results followed by an analysis of safety issues related to the electro-optical devices on STSAT-2.