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4th Nuri launch ends with successful satellite deployment in flight full of milestones

Published: 27 Nov. 2025, 20:04

CHO YONG-JUN
[email protected]

A Nuri space rocket lifts off from Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla, at 1:13 a.m. on Nov. 27. [YONHAP]

A domestically developed Nuri rocket launched on Thursday at 1:13 a.m., successfully deploying all 13 satellites it carried into orbit.

The government hailed the success of the fourth launch as further proof of Korea's space transportation ability.

“This successful fourth launch not only reaffirms that Korea has secured independent space transport capabilities, but also marks the first government-industry joint launch executed as a single team,” Science and ICT Minister Bae Kyung-hoon said during a post-launch briefing. “It represents an important turning point as Korea’s space-industry ecosystem shifts from a government-centered model to one led by the private sector.”

The Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA) and Korea Aerospace Research Institute confirmed shortly after the launch that it was able to communicate with the main payload satellite.

Out of the 12 cube satellites it deployed, five have communicated with Earth as of press time, while the rest are attempting to establish a connection.

Nuri lifted off at 1:13 a.m. from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla. The launch was delayed by 18 minutes due to an abnormal signal in an umbilical retrieval pressure sensor, but the remainder of the process proceeded smoothly.

The 200-ton rocket fulfilled its mission by placing the next-generation medium-sized satellite CAS500-3, along with 12 CubeSats, into their planned 600-kilometer-high (373-mile-high) orbit. The flight wrapped up at 1:31 a.m.

The CAS500-3 satellite managed to communicate with KASA twice on Thursday and 12 times with ground stations in Antarctica and Svalbard, Norway.

After a two-month diagnostics and mission preparation period in space, the satellite will orbit the Earth approximately 15 times a day and engage in its mission to research aurora and airglow.

All phases of the launch, including the first-, second- and third-stage engine burns and fairing separation, occurred as scheduled according to the KASA.

President Lee Jae Myung congratulated the successful launch, thanking the researchers and all related personnel, in a Facebook post Thursday.

“It was a moment that opened a new chapter in Korea’s space development history,” President Lee said.

"This fourth launch is the first successful case where a private firm was involved from the development of the launch vehicle to its operation," he said.

Lee, calling the launch “only a beginning,” vowed future government support toward Korea’s ambition to be the “global top five” in space technology.

The launch marked several milestones: the largest number of satellites deployed at the target orbit, the first nighttime launch of a main satellite intended for aurora observation and the first time a private company, Hanwha Aerospace, oversaw the entire prelaunch process.

Hanwha Aerospace CEO Son Jae-il, in a briefing following the launch, stressed the importance of local technology development in the industry.

"In terms of science and technology, space is where new materials, AI, communications and all kinds of state-of-the-art technologies come together," Son said, adding that the development of a multilayer defense system capable of defending "space, atmosphere and the ground" will be the key factor that wins the future battlefield.

"It's important to have rockets to be economical, but you can't rely on foreign technologies," he said.

The 12 CubeSats are expected to conduct a wide range of missions, including weather monitoring, medical experiments and space-environment observation. The different CubeSats are developed by universities like Seoul National University and KAIST, as well as space firms Uzuro Tech, Hancom InSpace and Quanternion.

The five CubeSats that communicated with Earth so far are satellites developed by the Electronics and Communications Research Institute, Inha University, KAIST and two developed by Cosmoworks.

Notably, the satellite developed by Inha University will be testing its rollable solar panel modules in orbit, which will provide a wider surface area to draw solar energy.

KASA has two more launches in store by 2027.

“As the government launches two more Nuri rockets by 2027, it will pursue the development of a next-generation rocket that surpasses the performance of Nuri, to further enhance Korea’s progress in space capabilities,” KASA administrator Yoon Young-bin said Thursday.

BY LEE JAE-LIM, CHO YONG-JUN [[email protected]]