S. Korea on June 15 attempts 2nd home-grown launch to carry real satellite into orbit

[Source: Pool Photo]

South Korea’s home-grown satellite launch vehicle Nuri on June 15 will fire off a rocket to place a real satellite into orbit from Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla after a failure with a dummy payload last October.

The Ministry of Science and ICT on Wednesday set the date after the launch management committee reviewed technical preparation and optimum launch conditions. The ministry also set the time frame for the launch between June 16 and 23 if schedule needs to change due to weather conditions.

The state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) has completed assembly of first and second stages of the rocket, also known as Korean Satellite Launch Vehicle II (KSLV-II), after making technical improvements to issues from the first launch last October.

The performance verification satellite that will be carried by Nuri arrived at Naro Space Center on May 16 and is receiving final review. The third stage of the rocket will be assembled in early June.

In October, Nuri had carried a single dummy satellite instead of a performance verification satellite. It successfully went to a target altitude of 700 kilometers but in the end failed to put the dummy payload into orbit as the third-stage engine shut off earlier.

“Local researchers and industry officials made their best efforts to draw improvements and technical supplements after the first Nuri launch,” said Oh Tae-seog, deputy science and ICT minister. “The government will also provide all the support to the end.”

If Korea carries out a successful launch of Nuri, it will become the world’s seventh country with home-grown capabilities to launch an over 1-ton satellite into orbit following the United States, Russia, France, Japan, China, and India.

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