Nuri's 5th Launch Successful... 14 Satellites Safely Sent Into Space

[Anchor]

South Korea's domestically developed space launch vehicle, Nuri, has successfully completed its fifth launch. A total of 14 satellites, including five cluster satellites as the main payloads, were sent into space simultaneously.

Reporter Jang Seon-i has the details.

[Reporter]

Naro Space Center in Goheung, Jeollanam-do.

The fifth Nuri lifts off powerfully, emitting flames amidst a roar.

As Nuri soars into space, cheers erupt from citizens.

[Lee Soon-deok / Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do: It was so wonderful. It was so touching. I feel like crying.]

Two minutes and one second after launch, the first stage, which helped break free from Earth's gravity, fulfilled its role and fell into the sea. Subsequently, the camera mounted on Nuri clearly captured the blue Earth amidst the pitch-black space.

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

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

Then, the separation of 10 microwave-sized cube satellites took place.

They were ejected simultaneously in pairs at 10-second intervals. At the moment units 5 and 6 of the cube satellites were supposed to separate, unit 6 was captured on Nuri's camera, but unit 5 was not visible.

The lid of the deployment mechanism failed to open, preventing it from separating from Nuri.

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

The Korea AeroSpace Administration evaluated the launch as a success, stating that the five main payload satellites were accurately placed into orbit and that Nuri's performance and operation were flawless.

[Oh Tae-seong / 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 its first launch five years ago, all four subsequent launches have succeeded. Nuri's goal is to launch at least once a year until 2032, moving beyond the transition to commercial launches to send a probe to the Moon.

(Video by Lee Chan-su | Video Editing by Kim Yun-seong)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.