On the morning of June 21, South Korea successfully launched a Nuri rocket of its production. This allows it to launch reconnaissance satellites into orbit and develop new projects.
Successful launch
South Korea has successfully launched a fully developed Nuri launch vehicle. The launch took place on the morning of June 21 from a small island off the southern coast of the country. It was a trial and, according to those responsible, was completely successful.
The Nuri rocket is a three-stage liquid-fuel carrier. It was first presented to the public last summer, and in October the first successful launch took place. Then the mock-up of the cargo was launched to an altitude of 700 kilometers, but it did not have sufficient orbital speed and fell near the coast of Australia.
The current launch is aimed at putting five training satellites into orbit. The first of them has a mass of 180 kg, and the other four are much smaller. At first, their launch was planned on June 15, but due to technical malfunctions, it was postponed. If the launch is successful, South Korea will become the tenth country to launch a satellite into orbit solely thanks to its technologies.
South Korea’s Space Ambitions
South Korea has significant space ambitions. At the same time, its achievements clearly lag behind its neighbors: China, Japan and, most importantly, the DPRK. The country launched its first satellites back in the 1990s. But for this it used foreign carriers, which excluded the possibility of launching military vehicles.
North Korea, the main opponent of the South, despite all the sanctions imposed against it, is gradually continuing its space program. They launched their carriers capable of launching spacecraft into orbit back in 2012. And in the winter of this year, a North Korean rocket sent the first images of the Earth’s surface.
And so, in South Korea, they are trying with all their might to catch up with their Communist neighbors. Currently, the country receives intelligence information from the United States. Nuri will allow them to provide their troops with satellite information without restrictions.
According to phys.org
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