South Korea’s largest satellite launched on Nuri rocket in ambitious space mission
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea launched its largest satellite aboard its domestically developed space rocket Thursday morning, the fourth of six launches planned through 2027.
The three-stage Nuri rocket took off from the country’s spaceport on an island off the country’s southwest coastal county of Goheung. Aerospace officials were monitoring the successful launch into orbit of a 516-kilogram (1,137-pound) science satellite and 12 other microsatellites.
The main satellite, designed to orbit 600 kilometers (372 miles) above Earth, is equipped with a wide-range aerial camera to observe auroral activity and separate systems to measure plasma and magnetic fields and to test the operation of life science experiments in space.
The dozen small “cube” satellites, developed by university teams and research institutes, include GPS systems to study the Earth’s atmosphere, infrared cameras to track plastic in the oceans and systems to test solar cells or communications equipment.
Thursday’s event was the country’s first launch involving a Nuri rocket since May 2023, when it successfully placed a 180-kilogram (397-pound) observation satellite into orbit, and the fourth overall since its first attempt in October 2021, which failed to deliver a dummy device.
