The Korea Aerospace Research Institute has obtained the rights to control and operate the nation's first geostationary ocean weather-communications satellite Chollian.

The institute took over Saturday from a French company the rights to oversee and control the the multifunctional observation satellite, which will provide communications, maritime and climate data from geostationary orbit every eight minutes. The remote satellite control system was domestically developed.

The onboard telecommunication equipment will provide high-definition images 16 times clearer than HDTV.

Korea has had 12 satellites launched following the launch of the Chollian.

The government plans to spend one trillion won by 2016 to develop satellites.