Nuri's 5th Launch a Success, Lifting 14 Satellites into Space

[Anchor]

South Korea's homegrown Nuri space rocket has successfully completed its fifth launch. This marks the first time a launch has taken place exactly on schedule. All five micro-cluster satellites, which were the core mission objectives, stably entered their target orbits.

First, we have a report from Jeong Gu-hui.

[Reporter]

Here at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, today (the 7th).

The fifth Nuri rocket powerfully lifts off amid a roaring sound and a burst of flames.

As Nuri soars into space, citizens erupt in cheers.

[Lee Sun-deok / Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province: It was wonderful. It was so moving. I feel like crying.]

This launch of Nuri took off precisely into space at 12:25 PM, which was the original target time.

Out of all five launches to date, this is the first time a launch has proceeded at the scheduled time without even a slight delay.

Two minutes and one second after launch, the first stage, which helped break free from Earth's gravity, completed its mission and fell into the sea. Soon after, cameras mounted on Nuri captured a vivid view of the blue Earth against pitch-black space.

Thirteen minutes and 15 seconds after launch, upon reaching an altitude of 576 km, the first cluster satellite separated from Nuri and headed out into space.

Nuri gradually rotated its body and successfully injected the remaining four cluster satellites into orbit.

Next, the separation of 10 microwave-sized cube satellites proceeded.

They were ejected two at a time at 10-second intervals. At the moment when the No. 5 and No. 6 cube satellites were scheduled to separate, No. 6 was captured by Nuri's camera, but No. 5 was not visible.

This was because the door of the deployment canister failed to open, preventing it from separating from Nuri.

As a result, 14 out of the total 15 satellites successfully arrived in space.

The Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) evaluated the launch as a success, stating that the five primary payloads were accurately placed into orbit and that Nuri's performance and operation were flawless.

[Oh Tae-seaok / Administrator of the Korea AeroSpace Administration: With the success of the fifth launch, Nuri's cumulative launch success rate has increased from 75% to 80%, further enhancing its reliability.]

Following the failure of the first launch five years ago, all subsequent four launches have succeeded. Nuri's goal is to launch at least once a year through 2032, moving beyond commercial launches to send an explorer to the Moon.

(Reported by Lee Chan-su | Video edited by Lee Sang-min)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.