Launch of Korean lunar orbiter Danuri postponed two days

Korea's first domestically-developed lunar orbiter Danuri is being shipped into a container to be delivered to the U.S. from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute on July 4. [NEWS1]

The launch of Korea’s first domestically-developed lunar orbiter, named Danuri, which was scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Aug. 3, has been delayed by at least two days, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced Thursday.

SpaceX, the launch service provider for Danuri, discovered that additional work would need to be done during the inspection process ahead of the launch, leading to the postponement.

Currently, SpaceX is in the process of getting permission for the change of the launch to Aug. 5 around 8:08 a.m. in Florida, which would be 7:08 p.m. the same day in Korea.

Danuri has undergone all its inspections and preparation and is waiting in the assembly testing building at the United States Space Force base.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]