Nuri launch to proceed as planned, put 8 satellites in space

Industry

Published: 24 May. 2023, 09:08 Updated: 24 May. 2023, 15:10

Nuri launch to proceed as planned, put 8 satellites in space

In this overlay photo, Korea Space Launch Vehicle-II, also known as Nuri, is being erected in a vertical position before the launch scheduled for Wednesday, at the Naro Space Center in Goheung County, South Jeolla, on Tuesday. [KARI]

Nuri, Korea's homegrown rocket, will take off at 6:24 p.m. Wednesday, from the launch pad at the Naro Space Center in Goheung County in South Jeolla, in line with its original plan.

The launch management committee held a meeting to consolidate the schedule for the liftoff at 1:20 p.m., Wednesday. It concluded that the liftoff can proceed as planned amid the stable weather conditions.

"The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute will continue to do our best to verify the performance and the credibility of the Nuri rocket once again and bring the payloads into the target orbit," Oh Tae-seog, first vice minister of science and ICT, said in a press briefing at the Naro Space Center.

The liquid fuel and oxidizer will be injected into the Nuri rocket starting at 3 p.m.

The Nuri rocket, or the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-II, completed the pre-launch preparation at 9:14 p.m., Tuesday, with the umbilical tower for fuel and oxidizer injection successfully connected to the rocket, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, which spearheads the launch.

Whether the rocket has completed its mission to deploy its 504-kilogram payload of eight satellites at the target altitude will be announced 80 minutes after the launch, at around 7:50 p.m.

The flight is estimated to last for 18 minutes and 58 seconds, with the first satellite set to be separated from the rocket at 550 kilometers above ground 785 seconds, or 13 minutes and 3 seconds, after the liftoff.

In its second test launch last June, Nuri carried a performance verification satellite with four miniature cube satellites placed inside and a dummy payload. The previous flight lasted for 1,095 seconds, or 18 minutes and 25 seconds, during the second launch.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]