South Korea lifts off first homemade rocket 'Nuri', mission partly successful

South Korea has successfully launched its first indigenously made rocket on Thursday, October 21 from the Naro Space Center, from the country’s Goheung region. Officially called the Korean Satellite Launch Vehicle II, the rocket goes by the name 'Nuri' and its success is being considered an important step for Seoul’s space programs, as per the Associated Press. Although, the mission, which took place in attendance of South Korean President Moon Jae-in, ended with a failure as the rocket couldn't install a dummy satellite into orbit. 

South Korea launches 'Nuri'

Seoul’s journey to its newest feat has been full of delays and failures. This curse has been partly broken as Nuri, the three-stage rocket, etched its name in history by becoming the first rocket to be built entirely with homegrown technology. Before achieving this feat, Seoul mostly relied on space programs of other nations since the early 1990s.

According to AP, South Korea last launched a two-stage rocket in 2013 with most contributions being from Russia but that too with long delays. Besides, it faced failure when another rocket named Naro failed to put a satellite into orbit in 2009 in its first test and exploded after two minutes of take-off in the second. However, that’s all in the past and Seoul now plans to conduct another dummy satellite test with Nuri in May 2022 before launching a real satellite, revealed officials at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), as per AP. Moreover, the country's officials also believe that Seoul's attempt of being the 10th country to launch its own satellite will raise its status in the global space race. Reportedly, the country is even planning a probe launch to the Moon in 2030 along with sending more advanced communications satellites and acquiring its own military intelligence satellites.

Mission partly successful

The 154-foot rocket successfully lifted off from the launch site but failed to put a 1.5-ton block of dummy payload into orbit. The rocket, which is powered by five 75-ton class rocket engines, was reportedly supposed to install the payload into an orbit 600 to 800 kilometers above Earth. This revelation was made by President Moon Jae-in himself who termed the launch an "unfinished business". 

Image: AP