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| The Nuri space rocket is seen at Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, May 10. Courtesy of KARI |
KARI confident about successful launch of homegrown rocket
By Baek Byung-yeul
The preparation process for the second launch of a Nuri space rocket is going smoothly according to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), which oversees launches, Friday.
"The three-stage Nuri space rocket is currently fully assembled," Jang Young-soon, director of KARI's Launcher System Development division, told reporters during an online briefing.
At the press conference, Jang shared information about the preparation process and the remaining procedures to be finalized before the second launch goes ahead at Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, June 15.
"For now, we plan to launch Nuri at 4 p.m. June 15, and we haven't seen any problems," he said.
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| Jang Young-soon, director of KARI's Launcher System Development division, speaks during an online press conference, Friday. Captured from briefing |
However, one last thing to be considered is the weather conditions the day before the launch, as it is scheduled to rain on the morning of June 14, the day when the rocket is to be moved to the launch pad.
"A rainy environment is not a big issue as the Nuri is completely sealed to block rainwater from entering. But several problems may occur while moving it to the launch pad. A vehicle transporting the Nuri may slip on the road due to rain. It takes about an hour for the rocket to get to the launch pad. It also takes a considerable amount of time to stand it up and stabilize it on the pad," he said, adding that the institute will discuss these matters with related organizations at the site.
The Nuri rocket will be transferred from the assembly center to the launch pad starting at around 7:20 a.m. June 14. The possibility of rain during the morning is currently 60 percent, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.
In regard to the factors that led to the failure of the first trial launch last Oct. 21, the director said that the KARI took proper measures not to repeat the same issues.
The first Nuri flew to a target altitude of 700 kilometers on the first attempt but failed to put a dummy satellite into orbit as its engine burned out 46 seconds earlier than expected.
After a two-month-long investigation, the institute concluded the reason for the failure stemmed from the loosening of a device that anchors a helium tank, which was mounted inside the oxidizer tank in the third stage of the rocket.
"We improved the helium tank by strengthening the anchor on the lower support and reinforcing the thickness of the manhole cover," Jang said.
In regard to the flight sequence, he said the first stage will see Nuri separated 127 seconds after the launch and the second stage will occur after 274 seconds. The rocket is expected to reach an orbital altitude of 700 kilometers 897 seconds after the launch.
Though the Nuri rocket carried a 1.5-ton dummy satellite during the first launch, the second one will carry a 180-kilogram performance verification satellite and four cube satellites, developed by four universities and designed to perform various missions such as monitoring the Earth and observing fine dust.
Revealing how the KARI engineers feel ahead of the launch, he said "all members of KARI are not relaxed so that they can respond in an agile manner to unexpected situations."
He added, "We feel that we are gaining experience by performing the process of assembling and firing several times. It was confirmed that there were no more problems during the assembly process and the test process."
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