South Korea's new science satellite arrives in Russia for launch

South Korea's new science satellite has arrived in Russia for its scheduled launch next month, the science ministry said Monday. The Science and Technology Satellite 3 (STSAT-3) arrived at Russia's Yasny launch base, located some 1,800 kilometers southeast of Moscow, on Thursday, said the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning in a press release. As the sixth satellite to be built indigenously by the country's Satellite Technology Research Center, the STSAT-3 is equipped with an infrared radar that can detect changes in temperatures on the earth's surface and underground, enabling the country to monitor subterranean activities such as volcanoes and earthquakes, according to South Korea's (Yonhap) News Agecny. The STSAT-3 will complement the Korea Multipurpose Satellite-5 (KOMPSAT-5), the country's first satellite with a synthetic aperture radar, also launched from Russia's Yasny base. A synthetic aperture radar is an advanced form of side-looking airborne radar that uses radio waves to detect changes in a target area, enabling 24-hour surveillance of the earth's surface regardless of weather conditions. Both the KOMPSAT-5 and STSAT-3 satellites were originally scheduled to be launched prior to or in 2011, using Russia's ballistic missile-turned space launch vehicles, but their launches had been delayed due to what officials here called political issues within the Russian government and military.