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The Ministry of Science and Technology said Thursday that it officially ended the mission of the multipurpose satellite Arirang 1 on Wednesday. The satellite has been out of contact since December 30 last year.
Launched in December 1999, Arirang 1 photographed and sent back 440,000 images while orbiting the globe 43,000 times for eight years, three years longer than its supposed life span.
The Korea Aerospace Research Institute made 370 emergency attempts to regain control of the satellite until Feb. 20, but was unable to restore communications with it.
The Science Ministry said that it approved the institute¡¯s request to end the satellite's mission since it concluded that repairing it would be impossible.
According to the results of a comprehensive expert inspection, there are several possible reasons for the satellite's death, including a mistake by the Earth station in inputting route information and managing the control system, and the satellite¡¯s advanced age.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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