Nuri rocket succeeds in putting 8 satellites into orbit

The Nuri space launch vehicle blasts off from Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, Thursday, to place satellites into orbit 550 kilometers above the Earth. Courtesy of Korea Aerospace Research Institute

Locally-developed rocket succeeds in putting satellites into space

By Baek Byung-yeul

Korea succeeded in launching a locally-developed space rocket, Thursday, placing satellites into Earth orbit to mark another milestone in the country's space program and solidify the nation's position as an aerospace powerhouse.

The science ministry said Thursday that the Nuri rocket lifted off successfully from Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, and placed eight satellites, including its main payload, the NEXTSAT-2 satellite, in orbit 550 kilometers above the Earth.

Lee Jong-ho, minister of science and ICT, announces the successful launch of Korea's homegrown space rocket Nuri at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, Thursday. Courtesy of Korea Aerospace Research Institute

"Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) confirmed that the Nuri rocket successfully separated and released the second next-generation small satellite, the NEXTSAT-2, on its target orbit based on the initial analysis of the Nuri's telemetry data containing the launch vehicle's flight information," Lee Jong-ho, minister of science and ICT, said at Naro Space Center.

The Nuri, also known as Korean Space Launch Vehicle II (KSLV II), lifted off at 6:24 p.m., completing the separation of the first and second stages and the fairing to cruise smoothly into space. After reaching an altitude of 550 kilometers, the Nuri began its mission of releasing the eight satellites.

Starting with the NEXTSAT-2, the eight satellites were separated at 20-second intervals. After all eight satellites were separated, the Nuri ended its flight 1,138 seconds or 18 minutes and 58 seconds after the launch.

"At around 7:07 p.m., it was confirmed that the NEXTSAT-2's signal was received from the King Sejong Station in Antarctica. On Friday, we will check the status of the satellite in detail through two-way communication with the ground station at KAIST in Daejeon four times from around 5:05 a.m. to 7:51 p.m.," the minister said.

President Yoon Suk Yeol encourages researchers at the Naro Space Center during a video call after watching the third launch of the Nuri space rocket from the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of presidential office

President Yoon Suk Yeol also congratulated the Nuri's success, calling it "a splendid achievement that declares Korea's entry into the G7 of space powers."

"The U.S., France, Japan, Russia, China, and India are the only countries that launched locally-developed satellites into space using their own space vehicles," Yoon said in a statement. "The third launch, which put eight practical satellites into orbit, is a huge step forward from the second launch, which put one performance verification satellite into orbit. It will change the way the world views Korea's space science and technology."

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The Nuri is a three-stage space launch vehicle measuring 47.2 meters in length, 3.5 meters in diameter and weighing 200 tons. It was supposed to have been launched, Wednesday, but was delayed due to a glitch. The Ministry of Science and ICT and KARI said the delay was caused by a network error that occurred between the launch control computer and the launch pad facility control computer while controlling a low-temperature helium supply valve.

On Thursday morning, Vice Minister of Science and ICT Oh Tae-seog said, "Engineers completed the program fix by 5 a.m. and confirmed that the hardware was fine," adding that they would attempt to launch the Nuri again at 6:24 p.m.

The Nuri attempted its first launch in October, 2021, but ended in partial success because the rocket failed to put a dummy satellite into orbit despite succeeding in reaching a target altitude of 700 kilometers above the Earth.

The Nuri space rocket blasts off from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, Thursday. Yonhap

In its second launch in June, 2022, the Nuri succeeded in deploying a dummy and performance verification satellites at a target altitude of 700 kilometers above the Earth. With the successful launch, Korea became the seventh country in the world to launch a space rocket using domestically developed technology following Russia, the U.S., France, China, Japan and India and place into orbit a satellite weighing over 1 ton.

The main difference between the last two launches and the latest launch is that the Nuri placed eight satellites into Earth orbit, which will be used for actual scientific missions. The satellites will carry out missions, such as ground observation, space weather observation, space radiation measurements and space environment verification of domestic space technology.

The main satellite, NEXTSAT-2, developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), will conduct observations for two years using a synthetic aperture radar (SAR). It also carried four microsatellites codenamed SNIPE, developed by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, and three cube satellites developed by private companies.

The success of the third launch is significant in the roadmap of Korea's space development, because the Nuri proved that the country's technology is capable of putting satellites in space, according to, Han Jae-hung, a professor at the Department of Aerospace Engineering at KAIST.

"The success of this launch is significant because it is the first time that satellites with an actual mission have been put into orbit via a launch vehicle made with Korean technology," the professor told The Korea Times. "For the Nuri launch vehicle, it is also important to demonstrate that the launch vehicle is capable of putting multiple satellites into orbit through a single launch."

Along with the Danuri lunar orbiter, which has been orbiting the moon since December, 2022, the Nuri is playing an important role in the country's plan to develop its space industry. In 2022, Yoon proposed Korea's ambitious goal of landing on the moon by 2032 and Mars by 2045 based on the continuing development of the Nuri.

The science ministry and KARI said the Nuri's next launch will be led by Hanwha Aerospace, a private company chosen as a partner in 2022 to supervise every process of the rocket's development from manufacturing and test verification to the actual launch.

"The government will launch the Nuri three more times by 2027, while promoting the development of a next-generation launch vehicle that has better performance than the Nuri to secure global competitiveness," the science minister said.

For the third launch, Hanwha Aerospace served in managing the production and cooperated in preparing for the launch with KARI.

The ministry said the Nuri needs to be launched repeatedly, not only to improve its reliability, but also to meet the demand for satellites being developed by local research institutions and private companies. The ministry also expects Hanwha's participation in the Nuri launch to improve the country's space industry ecosystem.

"Space powerhouse countries have repeatedly launched space vehicles to improve the performance and reliability after the first launch. There are many cases of failures after the first successful launch. With the company in charge of launch vehicle production, the technical level of the domestic launch vehicle industry ecosystem can be improved," the ministry said.