The South Korean government announced that at 1:13 a.m. local time on the 27th (12:13 a.m. Malaysia time), the domestically-developed ‘Nuri’ carrier rocket successfully completed its fourth launch, sending the next-generation medium-sized satellite No. 3 into its designated orbit and achieving its intended launch objectives.
The original launch time of ‘Nuri’ was scheduled for 12:55 a.m. on the 27th at the Naro Space Center in Goheung County, South Jeolla Province, but due to technical reasons, the launch was delayed to 1:13 a.m. on the 27th. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute stated that the next-generation medium-sized satellite No. 3 and another 12 CubeSats carried by ‘Nuri’ all entered their designated orbits, achieving the launch objectives. The Korean Sejong Science Base in Antarctica has received signals transmitted from the next-generation medium-sized satellite No. 3.
‘Nuri’ is a three-stage carrier rocket, with a total weight of 200 tons, capable of sending 1.5-ton-class satellites into orbits 600 to 800 kilometers above the ground.
‘Nuri’ conducted its first launch on October 21, 2021, but was unable to send the model satellite it carried into the designated orbit because the third-stage engine fuel was exhausted ahead of schedule. The second and third launches, carried out in 2022 and 2023 respectively, both successfully delivered their satellites into orbit.