GOCI Fully Takes on Mission of Ocean Observation 
and Service of Distribution of Data

- Geostationary earth observation satellite, Cheollian, brings 
the country to the fore of marine observation -

□ The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (Minister: CHUNG Jong-hwan) and the Republic of Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute (KORDI; President: KANG Jung-geuk) announced that Cheollian a geostationary earth observation satellite launched on June 27, 2010 had successfully completed its pilot operation for about nine months and started its regular operation and provision of data distribution service on April 18, 2011.

□ Cheollian has three missions: communications, ocean observation, and meteorological observation. One of its three payloads is designed for ocean observation, which together with the main body of Cheollian, is referred to as the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI).

□ Considering the fact that most geostationary earth observation satellites are for meteorological purposes, Republic of Korea's successful development of GOCI, the first of its kind in the world, and commencement of its full-time operation are raising expectations even further that the country will establish a firm presence at home and abroad as a leader in developing and utilizing geostationary ocean observation satellites.

□ Especially, Republic of Korea took its first serious step in space exploration only about 20 years ago, but it has now laid a foundation for emerging as a leader in ocean observation using artificial satellites.

□ A polar orbiting ocean observation satellite can observe the sea surrounding the Korean peninsula only once a day, but Cheollian, a geostationary satellite, remains above the peninsula and its surroundings 24 hours a day and observes the seas and land in and around Republic of Korea eight times a day at one hour intervals. This capability is expected to allow the country to better predict and respond to regional marine disasters and accidents？natural or anthropogenic？such as tsunamis and oil spills.

□ Because Korean marine researchers played a leading role in the development of the satellite from the phase of planning its missions, Cheollian is capable of providing a range of marine environment information optimized to the peninsula and its surroundings on red tides in coastal waters, fish farm environments, seawater quality, and the like.

□ GOCI will be operated by KORDI's Republic of Korea Ocean Satellite Center (KOSC). If you visit its homepage at http://kosc.kordi.re.kr or its mobile website at http://kosc.kordi.re.kr/m/index.kosc , you will soon see standard images and observation data captured by Cheollian free of charge. In addition, the National Spatial Information Clearinghouse (NSIC) under the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs is planning to provide the public with standard RBG color images for free. The NSIC's website address is http://www.nsic.go.kr