Goheung:South Korea successfully launched its indigenous Nuri rocket on its fifth mission to deploy 15 satellites into orbit, including components of the country's first microsatellite constellation. The 200-ton rocket took off from the Naro Space Center at 12:25 p.m., located approximately 400 kilometers southwest of Seoul.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the satellite payload includes five New-space Earth Observation Satellite Constellation for National Safety (NEONSAT) microsatellites and ten CubeSats. Nuri's first and second stages are set to separate 123 and 268 seconds after liftoff, respectively. Satellite deployment is scheduled to occur between 810 and 960 seconds after launch at an altitude of about 575 kilometers.
The five NEONSATs, numbered 2 through 6, will be deployed at 35 to 40-second intervals, with the upper stage of Nuri rotating by 45 degrees between each separation to avoid collisions. The ten CubeSats will be released two at a time, with a ten-second gap between each pair.
After deploying all satellites, Nuri will execute a collision-avoidance maneuver and vent its remaining fuel, completing its mission within 20 minutes. The rocket will remain in orbit before eventually reentering the Earth's atmosphere and disintegrating. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute will monitor the mission from facilities in South Korea and Palau.
This mission marks Nuri's first attempt to sequentially deploy multiple primary satellites for the same mission. Each NEONSAT weighs under 100 kilograms and is equipped with an electro-optical camera capable of capturing images with a resolution of 1 meter in black-and-white and 4 meters in color. These satellites will focus on national security and disaster response by monitoring the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity.
The NEONSAT constellation will eventually comprise ten satellites. An additional five NEONSATs are slated for launch on Nuri's sixth mission next year, completing the constellation. Once fully operational, the constellation will take images of the Korean Peninsula more than three times daily and revisit the same location within 24 hours.