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SYSTEMS DATABASE / OBSERVER-1A EARTH OBSERVATION CUBESAT
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Observer-1A Earth Observation Cubesat

Observer-1A

OVERVIEW

Nara Space's first satellite and the first commercial cubesat launched by a Korean company. The 16U (20 x 20 x 40 cm), roughly 24 kg spacecraft carries a multispectral electro-optical camera with 1.5 m native resolution from a 525 km orbit, improved to about 0.5 m with AI super-resolution, over a 14 x 40 km swath. Launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare from Vandenberg on November 11, 2023 (local time), it was first of the 113 satellites on that flight to transmit data and has operated beyond its two-year design life. The same 16U bus flew again as GYEONGGISat-1 (Observer-1B) in November 2025, and the 12U BusanSat followed in May 2026. The Observer bus and its onboard AI underpin the company's ADD mock-satellite contract and the KRIT autonomous proximity-operations demonstrator due by 2030.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

type
16U earth-observation cubesat
dimensions
20 x 20 x 40 cm
mass
~24 kg
payload
Multispectral electro-optical camera
resolution
1.5 m native, ~0.5 m with AI super-resolution
swath
14 x 40 km
orbit
~525 km sun-synchronous
design life
2 years (exceeded)
launch
SpaceX Falcon 9, Vandenberg, 2023-11-11

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