The fifth launch of South Korea's Nuri rocket is expected to take place in October. The Korea Aerospace Administration has officially approved the launch following the completion of its review process.
On August 25, the Korea Aerospace Administration held the 10th meeting of the Space Development Promotion Working Committee and deliberated on the results of the launch permit review for the Nuri rocket.
The joint public-private launch permit review committee examined whether the purpose of using the Nuri rocket was appropriate, whether safety management during the launch process could be adequately ensured, and whether there was capacity for liability in the event of an accident over a period of about three months. The upcoming fifth launch will carry five small military cluster satellites as its primary payload, which will be deployed into a sun-synchronous orbit for high-frequency, high-precision observation missions. Additionally, ten CubeSats aimed at ionospheric observation, domestic component verification, and ocean current analysis will also be launched into the same orbit.
During the meeting, a development plan amendment was approved to adjust the launch schedule for the Korean Positioning System (KPS) satellites. In a previous meeting held in May of last year, it was decided to delay the development schedule of the first KPS satellite by 20 months, pushing its launch to September 2029. The current adjustments align the launch schedules of subsequent satellites accordingly. However, the original goal of deploying eight KPS satellites by 2035 remains unchanged.
Oh Tae-seok, head of the Korea Aerospace Administration, stated that the fifth launch of the Nuri rocket will lead to ongoing Nuri launches and the enhancement of capabilities for space exploration using domestic launch vehicles. He also mentioned that the launch preparation status will continue to be monitored through the launch management committee even after the permit review is completed.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.