Seeing China completely free itself from reliance on the US GPS thanks to the "Beidou" system, South Korea could not hold back and is determined to develop its own "South Korean Beidou": KPS Korean Positioning System.
On September 22 local time, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KASA) and Jeju Island government signed an agreement to establish ground base stations for KPS in the Hae-won Industrial Park in Seogwipo City. This ground facility includes an operations center, a satellite control center, as well as antenna stations and monitoring units responsible for signal transmission and data monitoring. Once these facilities are officially operational, they will be able to precisely control inclined orbit satellites, expanding the coverage of KPS southward beyond Australia, directly extending the coverage out of Northeast Asia.
In short, this South Korean positioning system (KPS) is a regional satellite navigation system tailored specifically for the Korean Peninsula, with the core purpose of providing high-precision positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services.
South Korea's desire to develop its own satellite navigation system has long been evident — in 2018, the Ministry of Science and ICT of South Korea raised the slogan of "building a South Korean version of GPS"; by 2022, the project entered a substantive advancement phase, with a clear budget and timeline set: by 2035, a total of 8 satellites will be launched, including 5 in inclined orbits and 3 in geostationary orbits.
According to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute's plan, KPS is not only intended to provide secure and reliable navigation services to the military and government, but also needs to cover the civilian sector — such as precise scheduling of transportation, route optimization in the logistics industry, precise planting in agriculture, and even emerging mobile services like drone delivery, all of which need to be supported by it.
However, ideals are full, while reality is a bit harsh. Originally, the first satellite of KPS was scheduled to be launched in December 2027, but in May this year, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute suddenly announced that the launch date would be postponed to September 2029, delayed by 21 months. It is obvious to everyone that the project progress is far from meeting expectations.
Currently, there are four satellite navigation systems that can be considered outstanding globally: the US GPS, which is the oldest and most widely used; Europe's Galileo and Russia's GLONASS, each with their own focus; and China's "Beidou," which is a rising star and now provides global service. South Korea really wants to join this trend and create KPS, essentially wanting to enter the "self-reliant navigation system club," becoming one of the few countries that can independently master navigation core technologies without relying on others.
However, just having ambition is not enough to build a satellite navigation system. It is not a small project that can be assembled haphazardly, but rather a real "super project."
Taking China's Beidou as an example, it took 26 years from the start of R&D in 1994 to the full operation of Beidou III in 2020, providing global services, with investments reaching hundreds of billions of yuan and involving dozens of thousands of scientific researchers who worked hard to overcome a series of "bottleneck" technologies such as inter-satellite links, high-precision atomic clocks, and anti-interference signal processing — none of which were achieved overnight.
Looking at South Korea, KPS stumbled right from the beginning. The main reason for the postponement of the first satellite launch is technical bottlenecks: during the preliminary design review, it was found that the development of core components of the satellite did not meet the standards, the signal accuracy was insufficient, and the anti-jamming capability had not reached the expected level, failing even the most basic performance requirements, resulting in a slowdown in the schedule.
Considering that signal accuracy and anti-jamming capability are the "life or death" aspects of a satellite navigation system. If the accuracy is not sufficient, not only can agricultural precision sowing fail, but even car navigation could mislead people; if the anti-jamming capability is poor, once encountering complex electromagnetic environments, signals can easily be interfered with or interrupted. If used in military weapons guidance, the consequences are unimaginable.
Moreover, the construction of a satellite navigation system relies entirely on high-end technology from start to finish. From the development of the satellite itself (such as the stability of the satellite platform and the reliability of the payload), to the success rate of rocket launches, to the signal reception and processing of ground base stations, every link must be solid. The core technologies accumulated by China in the development of Beidou are the result of decades of technological accumulation and continuous investment. However, South Korea's experience in the aerospace field is still far behind that of China — even the basic performance of core satellite components has not been resolved, and there are a series of challenges such as inter-satellite coordination, orbital control, and long-term maintenance waiting ahead. Whether they can overcome them remains uncertain.
More importantly, a satellite navigation system is not a "one-time deal." Launching satellites is not the end of the story; subsequent maintenance, upgrades, and updates require continuous investment. Just like the US GPS, which has been continuously upgraded over the years, from the early GPS Block I to the current Block III, constantly improving accuracy and anti-jamming capabilities. If South Korea wants KPS to actually work, the subsequent financial and technological investment will only increase, not decrease.
But the problem facing South Korea now is whether it can withstand this continuous investment. Although a budget of 3.3 billion USD has been planned, this is just an initial estimate — if technical problems arise later, such as the need to redevelop core components or rocket launch costs exceeding estimates, the budget will definitely need to be increased. And South Korea currently faces considerable economic pressure, needing to cope with industrial transformation and maintain defense spending. Whether it can continue to support KPS is uncertain.
All in all, seeing the success of China's Beidou, South Korea wants to develop its own navigation system, this idea of not wanting to be dependent on others is understandable. After all, navigation technology is too critical, from daily travel to national security, it is indispensable — if always relying on US GPS, once the signal is cut off, the entire country's operation may be affected.
But understanding is one thing, eating the rice of a satellite navigation system is another. It's not something anyone can afford. Without overcoming technical barriers, without ensuring financial investment, and without planning for long-term maintenance, just relying on the momentum of "if China can do it, so can I" cannot support a reliable navigation system. If these issues are not solved, South Korea's KPS may only remain a beautiful dream, difficult to become a reality.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7553599356286124553/
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