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| South Korea's first homegrown space launch vehicle, known as Nuri, is loaded with fuel and oxidizer at the launch pad of the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, 473 kilometers south of Seoul, Thursday, before its liftoff at 5:00 p.m. Yonhap |
The following is a chronology of major events leading to the development of South Korea's homegrown space rocket Nuri, or Korea Space Launch Vehicle-II (KSLV-II), which was launched from the Naro Space Center in the country's southern coastal village of Goheung.
June 4, 1993 ― South Korea launches the indigenous one-stage solid propelled science observation rocket, called the Korea Space Rocket (KSR)-I, after three years of development.
July 9, 1997 ― South Korea launches the homegrown KSR-II two-stage solid propelled science observation rocket. It adopted such advanced technologies as guided control and stage separation compared to the previous version.
Nov. 18, 2002 ― South Korea launches the liquid-propellant science rocket of the KSR-III. It marked the first time that the country successfully built an independent liquid-fueled rocket, which laid the foundation for the development of small satellite launch vehicles.
March 26, 2001 ― South Korea joins the Missile Technology Control Regime, an informal international association that oversees the proliferation of unmanned delivery systems capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction.
August 2002 ― South Korea and Russia confirm plans to develop the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-I (KSLV-I) rocket, with a launch planned for 2005.
2005 ― South Korea and Russia complete work on critical designs for the KSLV-I. The original launch date was postponed until October 2007.
June 11, 2009 ― South Korea opens the Naro Space Center. Launch pad certification is completed using KSLV-I GTV. A complete first-stage rocket arrives from Russia by plane.
Aug. 11, 2009 ― After rounds of postponement, South Korea sets a new launch date on Aug. 19, 2009, following consultation with Russia.
Aug. 19, 2009 ― South Korea halts the countdown of the KSLV-I with less than eight minutes to go before blastoff after the automatic launch sequence system detects a problem in a high-pressure tank.
Aug. 25, 2009 ― The KSLV-I is launched and successfully enters the orbit. But it failed to deploy a scientific satellite into the orbit. An independent panel later confirmed a fairing assembly malfunction caused the failure.
March 2010 ― South Korea kicks off the project to develop the KSLV-II space rocket.
June 10, 2010 - South Korea launches the KSLV-I for the second time, but it exploded 137.19 seconds after liftoff.
Jan. 30, 2013 - After rounds of rescheduling, South Korea successfully launches the KSLV-I from South Korea's Naro Space Center.
March 2014 ― South Korea successfully conducts the first combustion test of the 7-ton-class liquid engine combustor for the KSLV-II.
June 8, 2016 ― South Korea successfully conducts the 75-ton liquid-fueled engine, which burned for 75 seconds.
March 2018 ― South Korea begins the comprehensive combustion test of the KSLV-II rocket.
Sept. 3, 2018 ― South Korea announces the name of the KSLV-II rocket is "Nuri," which means the world in Korean.
Nov. 28, 2018 - South Korea successfully test-launches the KSLV-Test Launch Vehicle to verify the performance of the liquid engine to be used for the KSLV-II.
Aug. 12, 2021 ― South Korea's space council approves the plan to launch the Nuri space rocket in October, 2021.
Sept. 29, 2021 ― South Korea confirms the date of the Nuri rocket's first launch on Oct. 21, and begins final safety exercises.
Oct. 21, 2021 ― The KSLV-II Nuri rocket lifts off. (Yonhap)
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