Nuri: South Korea’s First Homegrown Space Rocket

WHY IN THE NEWS?

South Korea has launched its first ever space rocket on October 21, 2021. This is the first rocket completely developed and built in South Korea. However, it failed to successfully deploy a test satellite into orbit.

About:
The rocket is called as “Nuri”.

• It is a 47-meter rocket that was lifted off, with bright yellow fire shooting from the engines.
• The rocket was launched from Naro Space Center, South Korea. This space centre is located on a small island on the southern coast of South Korea.

About Nuri Spacecraft

Nuri is the South Korea’s first space launch vehicle that was developed and built completely using the South Korean technology. It is a three-stage rocket and is powered by five rocket engines for completing its first and second stages. Another engine is used in the final stage of the rocket. Rocket is designed to carry a payload of around 1.5 tons to an orbit between 600 to 800 kilometres above Earth.

Why this mission failed?

This mission failed because the third-stage engine stopped burning some 50 seconds earlier than it was expected. This in turn prevented the payload from reaching its right speed for reaching into the orbit. Second attempt of the Nuri spacecraft have been planned for May.

Significance of the launch

South Korea was earlier dependent on other countries for launching its satellites since early 1990s. Now it is trying to become the 10th country to send satellite into space using its own technology.