South Korea Sends Its Largest Satellite Yet into Orbit in Major Step for National Space Program
South Korea marked a significant milestone early Thursday with the launch of its largest satellite to date aboard its domestically built Nuri rocket. According to The Associated Press , the three-stage rocket lifted off…
South Korea marked a significant milestone early Thursday with the launch of its largest satellite to date aboard its domestically built Nuri rocket.
According to The Associated Press, the three-stage rocket lifted off from the nation’s island-based spaceport in the southwestern coastal county of Goheung.
It is the fourth launch in South Korea’s six-mission plan set to run through 2027.
Aerospace officials monitored the rocket closely as it aimed to place a 516-kilogram (1,137-pound) science satellite into orbit, along with 12 microsatellites developed by universities and research teams.
The primary satellite is engineered to travel roughly 600 kilometers (372 miles) above Earth. It carries a wide-range airglow camera intended to capture auroral activity. It also includes dedicated systems to measure plasma, magnetic fields and to assess how life-science experiments perform in space.
The dozen smaller cube satellites each serve different missions. University teams and research institutions equipped them with tools such as GPS-based systems designed to analyze Earth’s atmosphere and infrared cameras built to track plastic pollution in the oceans.