For the first time, South Korea’s homegrown Nuri rocket places satellites into orbit
Months after the initial effort, which was unsuccessful, the launch of a domestically built space rocket, Nuri, was successful, according to the scientific ministry.
The South Korean science ministry announced the launch of its first domestically manufactured space rocket, months after a botched launch in October.
An observer noted that “it looks like it’s going according to the plan” when the 200-tonne liquid fuel rocket known as Nuri, the Korea Satellite Launch Vehicle II, blasted off from the launch site in Goheung on Tuesday.
Live TV video showed the rocket carrying the national flag ascending into the air above a cloud of dense white smoke.
South Korea performed a second test launch of its homegrown space rocket eight months after the first one, which saw the country’s attempt to join the elite group of advanced spacefaring nations fail to actually launch a dummy satellite into orbit.
The rocket’s three stages all functioned during its initial test in October of last year, which saw the vehicle reach a height of 700 kilometres (430 miles) and the 1.5-ton cargo successfully separate.
However, because the third-stage engine stopped running sooner than expected, it was unable to launch a mock satellite into orbit.
A rocket efficiency verification satellite and four cube satellites created by four regional colleges for study were also carried by Nuri during the test on Tuesday, in addition to the dummy satellite.
As only seven nations have launched commercial satellites, Rob McBride of Al Jazeera observed from the launch site that “it would be a major stride forward for South Korea if they were able to master this.”
South Korea is a major manufacturer of satellites thanks to its highly developed industries and high-tech manufacturing, but up until now, it has had to rely on other people’s rockets to send a satellite into orbit. According to McBride, investing in the commercial satellite industry is now profitable.
It took ten years and two trillion won ($1.5 billion) to create the three-stage Nuri rocket.
It is 47.2 metres (155 feet) in length, weighs 200 tonnes, and has six liquid-fueled engines in total.
China, Japan, and India all have sophisticated space programmes, and North Korea, a neighbour of the South with nuclear weapons, is the newest member of the club of nations with their very own satellite launch capacity.
