Checking My Field at 5m Resolution Every 3 Days… ‘Data Sovereignty’ Launched by the Agricultural and Forestry Satellite

South Korean agriculture has opened the space age. With the successful launch of Next-Generation Mid-Sized Satellite No. 4 (the Agricultural and Forestry Satellite), the country has secured ‘data sovereignty’ in agricultural geospatial information, which had long depended on foreign satellites. Capturing the Korean Peninsula once every three days at 5m resolution, the Agricultural and Forestry Satellite is a forward base that will lead to agricultural policy decision-making, support for farms, and business creation by agtech companies. We met Hong Seok-young, head of the Agricultural Satellite Center at the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences under the Rural Development Administration, who has led the field from planning the satellite to its launch and utilization strategy.

A battle against foreign satellites and limited budgets… broken through by inter-ministerial cooperation
“Even when we tried to conduct research in the lab, there was no imaging data from the time we wanted. Using foreign commercial satellites was very costly, and free satellite data had low resolution, limiting policy use and accurate analysis.”

Director Hong cited the most powerful driving force behind the Agricultural and Forestry Satellite project as the urgent need for ‘our own data.’ That is because establishing reliable policies, such as estimating rice cultivation areas nationwide and identifying agricultural disasters, required continuous and accurate in-house data.

The process was not smooth, but to push the project forward within the Rural Development Administration’s limited budget, an active cooperation model with related ministries was created.

Director Hong said, “There were limits to what could be done with the RDA’s internal budget alone, so we proposed collaboration to related ministries to reduce the budget burden,” adding, “Without the senior and junior researchers who joined in decision-making and budget securing, this could never have been achieved.”

Recalling the moment the satellite was launched into space, Director Hong said, “From the viewing stand 5km away, a flash burst out, and after it disappeared into the clouds in an instant, a heavy roar rolled in. I felt an indescribable emotion.”

But the emotion was brief, as he could not relax until hearing that communication with the ground station had succeeded. Director Hong said, “A launch is only another beginning. It takes tremendous effort before it can operate normally in the space environment and acquire images,” adding, “As time passed, I began thinking about all the planned work that had to be done after launch, and it also felt burdensome.”

He continued, “From planning the Agricultural and Forestry Satellite project to reaching launch, many people at the RDA played roles in making key decisions, planning and securing budgets, promoting and managing the project, and conducting utilization research, and all of them are the main contributors. I was grateful and honored to add even a small bit of strength and to share that moment at the launch site.”

The value of 5m resolution… not just a simple photo but a ‘data matrix’
Ordinary people may think that 5m resolution does not look as clear to the eye as Naver Maps or Google Maps. In response, Director Hong emphasized the difference between visual identification and data analysis.

Director Hong explained, “Compared with the existing 10m resolution used to survey rice cultivation areas, 5m resolution improves spatial resolution fourfold. The Agricultural and Forestry Satellite provides a data matrix that includes wavelength bands invisible to the human eye. It photographs the entire country every three days while maintaining an observation swath of 120km. Through this, we extract accurate information by analyzing and training AI models on changes in farmland cover and characteristics of vegetation growth.”

Where and how will Agricultural and Forestry Satellite data be used? Director Hong expects it to be used in the short term for public policy and strengthening digital capabilities in the field, and in the long term for building a private agtech ecosystem.

Director Hong said, “For farmland of about 1,200 pyeong, around 160 pixels are included in 5m resolution satellite imagery. Even if it is not yet an absolute quantified prescription, if a farmer enters an address, we can show a time-series graph of changes in the growth condition (vegetation index) of that plot. It will be useful for young farmers newly starting farming to encounter digital technology and use it as reference material for decision-making.”
 

He also made support measures for private companies clear. The plan is to provide basic satellite imagery and vegetation indices free of charge to domestic users and companies, so that private firms can use them to develop advanced business models or paid customized consulting services.

Director Hong emphasized, “Digital information must fill the gap in rural areas suffering from labor shortages. The government should provide basic fact-based data, and it is the role of private companies to apply that data and create specific solutions.”

As a way to increase the utilization of the Agricultural and Forestry Satellite and foster specialized personnel, the Agricultural Satellite Center plans to organize a joint research group composed of universities and companies, as well as a user group involving local governments and agtech firms, and to operate a tentatively named Agricultural Satellite Forum encompassing both organizations.

Director Hong Seok-young said, “We will operate a research group that produces information using the Agricultural and Forestry Satellite, a user group that utilizes it, and a forum encompassing both groups,” adding, “We will proceed in the direction of creating the information users want.”

“Full-scale operation from 2027… expanding manpower and budget, and a roadmap for follow-up satellites, are urgent”
The Agricultural and Forestry Satellite will begin full-scale missions in 2027. However, staffing at the Agricultural Satellite Center is far from sufficient. A bottleneck could occur in processing the vast amount of data sent from space in a timely manner. Preparations for launching follow-up satellites must also begin. This is why the need for major reinforcement of personnel and budget expansion is being raised.

Director Hong Seok-young said, “The satellite’s design life is five years after exposure to the space environment, so its mission is scheduled to end in 2032. Of course, as with the land observation satellite, we will try to extend its service life through careful management, but we are planning to begin preparations for a follow-up satellite project together with the Korea AeroSpace Administration.” He added, “It is true that we lack research personnel who can produce good data,” mentioning the need to reinforce staffing.

Having already set aside the emotion of the country’s first Agricultural and Forestry Satellite launch and begun work on measures to increase its utilization and plans for follow-up satellites, Director Hong Seok-young now looks ahead. With the launch of the Agricultural and Forestry Satellite as a turning point, it is hoped that South Korean agriculture, having secured data sovereignty, will use space technology as a springboard to leap into becoming a true ‘digital agriculture powerhouse.’