South Korea’s new three-stage, liquid-fueled Nuri launcher is scheduled to blast off Thursday on the country’s first attempt to place an object into orbit with an entirely homegrown rocket.
The launch Thursday is the culmination of a nearly 12-year, $1.7 billion development program to give South Korea a domestic satellite launch capability. South Korea’s space agency, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, led the effort to design, build, and test the Nuri rocket.
Liftoff is scheduled for 4 a.m. EDT (0800 GMT) from the Naro Space Center, a spaceport around 300 miles (500 kilometers) south of Seoul. Korean officials delayed the launch one hour early Thursday.
“Nuri is our country’s own space launch vehicle that has been developed through the blood, sweat, and tears of many researchers and industrial parties since 2010, and I believe its launch this October will mark a milestone in the history of our space development,” said Lim Hye-sook, South Korea’s science minister, in a statement.
“Since it is an important period ahead of the launch, the government will also provide active support so that researchers can do their best and concentrate on research and development with a calm mind until the last moment,” she said.
The Nuri rocket, also known as the KSLV 2, will aim to deliver a satellite mock-up to a polar orbit around 435 miles (700 kilometers) above Earth after launch Thursday. KARI officials have given the test launch just a 30% chance of success, according to the Korea Herald, the country’s largest English-language newspaper.
Ground crews transferred the rocket from its assembly hangar to its launch pad Wednesday. The nearly 155-foot-tall (47.2-meter) rocket was raised vertical in preparation for the multi-hour countdown.
Before liftoff, the South Korean launch team will load kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants into all three stages of the Nuri rocket.
Four KRE-075 engines, developed by the South Korean company Hanwha Aerospace, will flash to life in the final moments of the countdown. The liquid-fueled engines will power up to full throttle, generating 586,000 pounds of thrust to push the launcher into the sky.
The rocket’s KRE-075 engines each use a gas generator to drive a pump feeding propellant into the thrust chamber. SpaceX’s Merlin engine, which power the Falcon 9 rocket, use a similar design.
The Nuri rocket’s second stage has a single KRE-075 engine with a vacuum expansion nozzle. The launcher’s third stage, which fires to inject payloads into orbit, is powered by a smaller engine producing about 15,000 pounds of thrust.
Heading south from the Naro Space Center, the Nuri rocket will exceed the speed of sound in less than a minute before climbing through the stratosphere. Here is an overview of the launch sequence:
• 电话+00：55： 马赫1的
• T+02:07： Stage 1 Separation
• T+03:53： Fairing Separation
• 电话+04：34： Stage 2 Separation
• T+13:18： Stage 3 Shutdown
• T+16:07： Payload Separation
韩国第一颗 Nuri 火箭的发射是在 Naro 1 号助推器唯一成功发射近 1 年后推出的。 韩国从纳鲁航天中心发射了三枚纳鲁 2009 号火箭，但 2010 年和 XNUMX 年的前两次飞行在升空后不久就失败了。
1 年 30 月 2013 日，第三次“Naro 11”任务成功地将一颗小型韩国技术演示卫星送入轨道，使韩国成为第 XNUMX 个将自己的卫星送入轨道的国家，但这一壮举在没有国际帮助的情况下无法完成。
俄罗斯的航天承包商赫鲁尼切夫开发了 Naro 1 的第一级，助推器的煤油燃料 RD-151 主发动机由另一家俄罗斯公司 NPO Energomash 制造。
韩国航空航天工业公司领导的韩国工业团队负责开发 Nuri 火箭。
过去十年，随着韩国国内卫星制造基地的进步，韩国的航天工业不断发展。 韩国建造的前两颗地球静止卫星于 2018 年和 2020 年发射，用于天气监测和海洋学任务。
韩国探路者月球轨道器计划于 2022 年由 SpaceX 猎鹰 9 号火箭发射。 该航天器正在韩国制造，将携带韩国和美国科学仪器的有效载荷来研究月球。
在推出 Nuri 火箭后，KARI 还制定了开发更大卫星发射器的路线图。
The Nuri, which means “world” in Korean, is designed to place a payload of up to 3,300 pounds (1,500 kilograms) into an orbit more than 372 miles (600 kilometers) in altitude.
韩国官员计划明年 XNUMX 月发射第二枚 Nuri 火箭。 该任务将是第一次将真正的卫星送入轨道的 Nuri 飞行。
电子邮件 作者。
在Twitter上关注Stephen Clark： @ StephenClark1.
