South Korean Artist Individually Builds $500 Satellite, Set to Launch in December

Constructing a satellite is usually done by groups of scientists or college students, but that's not the case for one South Korean artist.

The artist in question is 34-year-old Song Hojun who compared the making of a satellite to the making of a cellphone.

Hojun is reported to have designed and financed a satellite named OpenSat, which cost about $500 to make.

"I believe that not just a satellite, but anything can be made with the help of the Internet and social platforms. I chose a satellite to show that symbolically," said Hojun.

The idea to design the satellite came after interning for a private satellite company. His idea was named the "Open Satellite Initiative."

"I'm just an individual, not someone working for big universities, corporations or armies, so they open up to me and easily give out information," said Hojun.

Hojun spent nearly six years researching, shopping and rummaging through electronic stores, and contacting space professionals from France and Slovenia to construct the 2.2-pound satellite.

OpenSat will attempt to transmit information about its battery status, temperatures, and rotation speed of its solar panel. The satellite is also programed to send a message in Morse code with its LED lights at a designed time and location. Radio operators are able to communicate with the man-made satellite.

This isn't Hojun's first attempt at combining technology with art; he previously created "Apple," which features light bulbs changing color from green to red when people take photos of it with the flash option on.

Hojun has been invited to speak at international universities and organizations, such as the America's MIT Media Lab and CalArts, and the Royal College of Art in London.

"The reason why technology or science is talked about is not because it is an absolute truth, but rather because it generates interesting stories," Hojun added.

With the help of the French technology company NovaNano, the satellite will launch in December from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.