South Korea will launch a multipurpose satellite in 2008.

The satellite, dubbed "Arirang 5," will be equipped with a highly sophisticated radar system to observe the earth 24 hours a day from 685 kilometers above ground.

The Ministry of Science and Technology said the satellite's launch date had been moved up by two years, from the original 2010 deadline.

The multipurpose satellite's Synthetic Aperture Radar, or SAR, will observe farming conditions and underground and marine resources and send various industrial information to the earth.

As the radar system can observe the earth in cloudy weather or at night, the satellite is expected to serve not only industrial, but military purposes as well.