Nuri rocket deploys 14 satellites, 1 CubeSat fails to release
The Nuri rocket lifts off at the second launchpad of the Naro Space Center in Goheung, Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City, Wednesday. Courtesy of Korea Aerospace Research Institute
The Nuri rocket successfully lifted off on its fifth launch and deployed 14 of the 15 satellites it carried into their target orbit Wednesday.
The rocket lifted off from the second launch pad at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City, at 12:25 p.m. and completed its roughly 20-minute flight at around 12:45 p.m.
The rocket separated its first stage about two minutes after liftoff, followed by the second stage about four and a half minutes into the flight. At around 12:40 p.m., it reached an altitude of 570 kilometers and completed the sequential deployment of five NEONSAT swarm microsatellites (satellite No. 2 to 6), its primary payload, along with nine of the 10 CubeSats it carried.
Initially, the Nuri sent signals indicating that all of the CubeSats had been successfully deployed. However, subsequent checks found that PERSAT02, developed by Quaternion, had failed to separate from the rocket.
The flight ended at around 12:45 p.m. after the third stage completed its autopilot sequence.
"The Nuri rocket successfully completed its planned fifth launch mission,” Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) Administrator Oh Tae-seog said. “The Nuri, which lifted off from the Naro Space Center at 12:25 p.m. today, successfully carried out all planned flight procedures, including the separation of its first and second stages and third-stage engine burn, before entering its target sun-synchronous orbit.”
“The five NEONSAT swarm microsatellites, the primary payload, were also confirmed to have separated successfully according to the planned sequence. NEONSAT No. 6 successfully established its first communication with the King Sejong Station in Antarctica at around 1:08 p.m., and the others are expected to establish communications sequentially.”
The Nuri rocket lifts off at the second launchpad of the Naro Space Center in Goheung, Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City, Wednesday. Courtesy of Korea Aerospace Research Institute
“With the success of the fifth launch, the Nuri’s cumulative launch success rate rose from 75 percent to 80 percent, further improving the rocket’s reliability,” Oh said.
“The fifth launch is also significant because it successfully demonstrated the precise deployment of multiple satellites in a single launch. This was the first time Korea deployed five primary satellites into space simultaneously. The successful deployment of the satellite constellation demonstrated a more advanced space transportation capability that can support diverse missions according to customers’ desired orbits and schedules."
The Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) oversaw the development of the five NEONSAT satellites. Each is an Earth observation satellite weighing less than 100 kilograms, designed to capture high-resolution images with a ground resolution of 1 meter in black and white and 4 meters in color.
Five additional satellites are scheduled to launch aboard Nuri on its sixth mission in 2027. Once the constellation of 10 mass-produced satellites is operational, it will be able to image the Korean Peninsula at least three times a day and revisit the same location within 24 hours in emergencies such as disasters.
The secondary payloads included missions to test technologies developed by private companies in the space environment.