The government says preparations for the launch of the Arirang-3 Earth observation satellite will begin on Friday.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced on Thursday that all development stages for the satellite were completed last month and that the satellite will be moved from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute in Daejeon to Japan’s rocket-launch complex, the Tanegashima Space Center, on Thursday evening.

Starting from Friday, preparations for the satellite’s launch will be carried out, including its fuel injections, with the aim of putting the satellite into orbit on May 18th.

Equipped with a highly sophisticated camera system, the Arirang-3 will operate at an altitude of 685 kilometers for four years and carry out surface observation missions.