S.Korea sets Nuri space rocket’s third launch on May 24

South Korea will conduct a third attempt to launch its first domestically designed and developed space rocket Nuri on May 24.

The Ministry of Science and ICT said on Tuesday the Korean Satellite Launch Vehicle Two (KSLV-II FM3), nicknamed Nuri, meaning the world in Korean, will be launched from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province.

The Korean launch vehicle Nuri 3 (KSLV-II FM3) will be launched on May 24 at 6:24 p.m.  The preliminary launch period was set to between May 25 and 31 in consideration of the possibility of changing the launch schedule in the event of some issues, such as unfavorable weather conditions. 

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute and Hanwha Aerospace Co. have completed the process of assembling the first and second stages and is undergoing various performance tests. The eight satellites to be mounted on the third stage will be delivered to the Naro Space Center early next month and final assembly work will be carried out for three weeks.

The satellites, which will be loaded on the Nuri rocket, are being tested for the space environment. These are practical satellites, not mock-ups, capable of Earth observation. 

The main purpose of this launch is to put the No. 2 next-generation small-size satellite developed by Korea's own technology into orbit. The satellite, which was completed in October last year with a budget of 24 billion won ($18.1 million) invested by the KAIST Satellite Research Institute, has a total weight of 170 kg and a length of 5.2 m when the antenna is deployed.

It will perform ground observation missions for two years while orbiting at an altitude of 550 km. It is noteworthy that a small-sized synthetic aperture radar (SAR) made with domestic technology will be used. SAR is not affected by light or clouds, enabling day and night ground observation even during severe weather. The maximum resolution is 5 m, and the observation width is 40 km.

The deployment of the cluster satellite SNIPE (Scale MagNetospheric and Ionospheric Plasma Experimen) into orbit is also one of the main missions of Nuri rocket. It's developed by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, consists of four nano-satellites weighing 10 kg each and with a size of 6U (10×20×30 cm). SNIPEt will observe near-Earth plasma phenomena (aurora) at distances of around 10-100 km apart in formation flight in the 500 km orbit.

Write to Jin-Won Kim at jin1@hankyung.com