South Korea launches new rocket Nuri in great leap forward for space programme, but fails to put dummy satellite in orbit
- Nuri, Seoul’s first domestically produced space launch vehicle, completed its flight sequence but failed to put its dummy payload in orbit
- It reached a target altitude of 700km above Earth, putting South Korea almost on a par with countries with their own satellite launch capability, such as the US, Russia and China
However, the three-stage Nuri rocket, emblazoned with the Korean national flag, did not succeed in putting a 1.5-tonne dummy satellite into a low orbit of 700km above the Earth after 16 minutes of flight from the launch site in Goheung.
“The Nuri rocket completed its flight sequences. I am proud of it. But regretfully it failed to achieve the goal completely. It was already a great feat that it successfully reached the target altitude of 700km above the earth,” said President Moon Jae-in in a statement. Moon said the country will fix the shortcomings and hopefully achieve complete success when it launches a second Nuri rocket in May next year.
“It was a 90 per cent success,” said Lee Chun-geun, a senior researcher at South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute.
He noted the first stage rocket, a cluster of four 75-tonne engines that represented the most serious technical hurdle, had operated normally while other flight sequences including the second stage and pairing separation were all successful.
“Data obtained from this test launch will be enormous and extremely helpful in ensuring the next launch will be a success,” he said.