South Korea's Nuri Rocket Flies for a Fifth Time: 14 of 15 Satellites Deployed Into Orbit
Seoul — South Korea's domestically developed Nuri rocket (KSLV-II) lifted off from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, at 12:25 p.m. on October 7 and reached its target orbit 575 kilometers above Earth about 20 minutes later, sequentially deploying 14 of the 15 satellites it carried on its fifth flight.
At 1,071 kilograms, the payload was the heaviest Nuri has ever flown. The primary payload comprised five NEONSAT microsatellites, numbered 2 to 6, part of an Earth-observation constellation for national safety, along with ten CubeSats built by Korean universities, research institutes and startups. The Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) confirmed that all five primary satellites separated at intervals of 35 to 40 seconds and made initial contact with the King Sejong Station in Antarctica by that evening.
The single failure involved a secondary payload: PERSAT02, a CubeSat built by the company Quaternion, never separated from the rocket because of a dispenser cover malfunction. KASA said the other 14 satellites were all deployed successfully and that the mission's primary objectives were met.
The flight also marked an institutional first: Hanwha Aerospace held full operational command of a Nuri launch for the first time, with KASA moving from operational lead to a supervisory and advisory role — a step widely seen in South Korea as a transition toward privately led commercial launch services. The NEONSAT constellation will eventually comprise ten satellites, with five more planned to fly on Nuri's sixth launch in the second half of 2027.
Nuri is South Korea's first fully homegrown three-stage orbital rocket. Its maiden flight in 2021 failed to reach orbit, while the flights in 2022, 2023 and 2025 succeeded, making this its fourth success in five launches.
(Source: Yonhap News Agency)
Source: Yonhap News Agency
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：韩国「世界号」（KSLV-II）运载火箭发射升空（资料图，2021年首飞）。韩国航空宇宙研究院，KOGL Type 1，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: South Korea's Nuri (KSLV-II) rocket lifting off (file photo, maiden flight in 2021). Korea Aerospace Research Institute, KOGL Type 1, via Wikimedia Commons.
