Observer-1A and 1B: Empowering Next-Gen Earth Observation with Nara Space Technologies

At Anywaves, we love building antennas — but what really drives us is seeing them come to life on missions that matter.

That’s exactly what happened with Observer-1A and 1B, two 16U CubeSats developed by Nara Space Technologies, a dynamic South Korean company pioneering a new generation of CubeSat-based Earth observation solutions. Their goal: deliver high-resolution Earth imagery from orbit, with speed, flexibility, and a bold roadmap for the future.

We’re proud to be contributing to this effort by supplying our X-band antenna — a key piece of hardware that ensures all the data collected in space actually makes it back to Earth efficiently. Here’s a closer look at the mission, the spacecraft, the team behind it, and what we’ve built together.

Credits: Nara Space

About Nara Space Technologies: Pioneering Small Satellite Innovation in South Korea

Based in Daejeon, South Korea, Nara Space Technologies has rapidly positioned itself at the forefront of South Korea’s commercial space sector. Founded in 2015, they’ve built up a strong internal team (50+ engineers and specialists) and a big ambition: rethink how small satellites can help us better understand our planet.

What makes Nara Space stand out isn’t just its hardware. They’re building an entire ecosystem:

• The Observer constellation, delivering multispectral Earth imagery at high resolution
• The NarSha constellation, focused on methane emissions monitoring from space
• The EarthPaper platform, an AI-powered toolset for data processing, interpretation, and visualization

Their long-term vision is clear: provide timely, high-quality geospatial data for governments, businesses, and research institutions worldwide. With the successful launch of Observer-1A, Nara Space became the first private Korean company to operate a 16U optical CubeSat, marking a significant milestone for both the company and the national space industry.

The Team behind Observer-1. Credits: Nara Space

Mission Overview: Observer-1A and 1B — Two Satellites, One Bold Vision

Mission Goals and Context

The Observer-1 satellites are part of a broader plan to deploy a 96-satellite constellation over five years, with the goal of delivering frequent, global, high-resolution Earth imagery to support:

• Environmental and climate monitoring
• Urban development and infrastructure planning
• Agricultural analysis and crop health monitoring
• Natural disaster response
• Resource management and maritime surveillance

By using small, agile satellites equipped with powerful payloads, Nara Space is building an alternative to traditional, costly EO constellations — offering flexibility, scalability, and reduced latency.

On November 12, 2023, Observer-1A’s beacon transmission and bidirectional communication has been completed within about 1 hour and 20 minutes after the ejection from Falcon 9. Credits: Nara Space

Observer-1A: Operational and Delivering Data

• Launch Date: 11 November 2023
• Launch Provider: SpaceX Falcon 9, Transporter-9 rideshare
• Integration Partner: Exolaunch
• Orbit: Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), ~500–550 km altitude
• Design: 16U CubeSat, ~23 kg

Observer-1A carries a multispectral electro-optical payload capable of imaging across seven bands in the visible and near-infrared spectrum (450–900 nm). The camera delivers a native ground resolution of 1.5 meters, improved to 0.5 meters through software-based super-resolution techniques.

Its wide swath (14 × 40 km) enables efficient coverage of large areas in a single pass, making it ideal for monitoring dynamic or remote regions. With a planned lifetime of two years, Observer-1A is already generating imagery that feeds into Nara Space’s EarthPaper platform, allowing near-real-time analytics and actionable insights.

Key onboard systems include:

• 3 deployable solar arrays to provide power
• Inertial sensors and star trackers for precise pointing
• S-band and X-band radios, with the latter supported by Anywaves’ antenna

Observer-1B: The Twin Satellite Preparing for Orbit

Scheduled for launch in the first half of 2024, Observer-1B mirrors the design and mission profile of its predecessor. Once in orbit, it will enable:

• Reduced revisit time over targeted regions
• Increased temporal resolution for monitoring applications
• Constellation resilience and redundancy

The two satellites will work in tandem to lay the operational groundwork for the full Observer constellation. Each new spacecraft added to the fleet will enhance revisit capabilities and improve data availability — a critical factor for markets demanding near-real-time monitoring.

Anywaves’ Contribution: X-Band Antennas for High-Speed Data Return

Observer-1’s imaging capabilities mean large volumes of data are generated on each pass — and efficient transmission to ground stations is key. That’s where Anywaves comes in. For both Observer-1A and 1B, we supplied our flight-proven X-band antenna, engineered specifically for:

• High data-rate performance to handle large volumes of imagery
• Compact and lightweight design compatible with 16U CubeSats
• Radiation-tolerant materials and durable mechanical construction
• Stable RF performance over temperature and vibration cycles

Our X-band antenna ensures seamless transmission of mission-critical data, supporting real-time analytics and empowering decision-making on the ground.

We worked closely with Nara Space’s technical teams to ensure perfect integration of the antenna within the mission architecture — a collaboration that highlights the importance of trust, precision, and agility in space engineering.

Credits: Nara Space

Looking Ahead: Toward a Scalable, Intelligent Earth Observation Constellation

Scaling the Constellation

With Observer-1A operational and 1B soon to follow, Nara Space is already preparing the next phases of deployment. The goal is to scale toward 96 satellites, allowing:

• Daily or sub-daily revisits of high-priority regions
• Persistent monitoring of environmental indicators
• Multi-angle imagery for 3D reconstruction and change detection
• Data fusion between Observer (optical) and NarSha (methane detection) constellations

Observer’s scalability makes it suitable for a variety of use cases, from global climate research to precision agriculture, infrastructure planning, and national security.

Evolving Data Services

Nara Space isn’t just building satellites — they’re building an integrated data service pipeline. The EarthPaper analytics platform is being enhanced to:

• Automate image processing
• Apply AI and machine learning to detect anomalies or trends
• Deliver alerts and reports to end users
• Integrate EO data into customer workflows via APIs

The seamless delivery of high-value data products is where the mission’s true impact will be felt — and it depends on robust, high-bandwidth communications to close the loop between orbit and analysis. That’s why antenna performance will remain a strategic asset, and why we look forward to continuing to support the Observer fleet as it grows.

Conclusion

The Observer-1A and 1B missions are more than technical milestones. They represent a new way of thinking about satellite-based Earth observation: faster, more modular, and increasingly intelligent.

For Anywaves, collaborating with Nara Space has been an opportunity to bring our technology into an ambitious and well-structured vision — and to support the growth of a new space leader in Asia.

We’re proud of the work done so far, and we’re looking forward to what comes next: more missions, more collaboration, and more opportunities to enable next-generation satellite constellations with our European-made antennas.

Stay tuned – the best is yet to come.

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