The Nuri rocket, developed in South Korea, successfully completed its fifth flight on Wednesday 7 October. Lift-off took place at 12:25 local time from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla province, and the flight lasted about 20 minutes.
The launcher carried 15 satellites, a record for the programme, of which 14 reached their intended orbit at an altitude of 570 kilometres. Only one small CubeSat failed to separate from the rocket. The total payload was around 1,071 kilos, up from about 960 kilos on the previous mission.
The main payload consisted of five NEONSAT Earth observation microsatellites, each weighing less than 100 kilos, whose development was overseen by the KAIST institute. First contact was made with King Sejong Station in Antarctica, and by late afternoon the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) confirmed that all five had communicated with Earth.
With this result, Nuri’s cumulative success rate rose from 75% to 80%. KASA administrator Oh Tae-seog said the rocket had successfully completed its planned mission, and a sixth mission carrying five more satellites is already planned for 2027.
