South Korea launched its Nuri rocket with 15 satellites aboard, advancing its domestic space program. Five satellites will form a new constellation.
South Korea launched its homegrown Nuri rocket on Wednesday, successfully sending 15 satellites into orbit during the rocket’s fifth flight from the Naro Space Center in Goheung. The 200-ton, three-stage rocket lifted off at 12:25 p.m. local time and completed its flight roughly 20 minutes later.
The payload included five New-space Earth Observation Satellite Constellation for National Safety, known as NEONSAT, microsatellites and 10 CubeSats. The five NEONSAT satellites are intended to form part of South Korea’s first domestically launched microsatellite constellation.
South Korea’s space agency said the five NEONSAT satellites were successfully deployed and established initial communication with the country’s King Sejong Station in Antarctica. Nine of the 10 CubeSats were also released as planned, while one satellite developed by South Korean startup Quaternion failed to separate from the rocket.
The NEONSAT satellites are designed to carry out Earth observation and support national security and disaster-response activities. The constellation is expected eventually to consist of 10 satellites, with five additional satellites planned for deployment during Nuri’s sixth flight next year.
The launch was Nuri’s fifth overall and its fourth consecutive successful flight following the rocket’s unsuccessful maiden launch in 2021. The latest mission also marked the first time Nuri sequentially deployed multiple primary satellites designed to perform the same mission, an important capability for operating satellite constellations.
Sources: Yonhap News Agency, Anadolu Agency, Space.com and Korea Times.