South Korea’s KSLV-2 rocket put seven satellites, including one equipped with synthetic aperture radar, into sun-synchronous orbit May 25, although an eighth cubesat is believed to have not deployed properly. The rocket lifted off at the planned time of 5:24 a.m. Eastern from the Naro Space Center. Live footage showed the 47.2-meter rocket, emblazoned with South Korea’s flag, soaring into the air with bright yellow flames shooting out of its engines. It was the third launch of the kerosene and liquid oxygen-fueled three-stage rocket since its partially successful debut in October 2021. The second launch in June 2022 successfully put a 1.3-ton dummy payload and a 162-kilogram performance test satellite into low Earth orbit. Despite the setback with one cubesat, science minister Lee Jong-ho referred to the launch as “successful” in a televised press conference held about 90 minutes after liftoff. “It would take some time to know what happened” to the cubesat, he said. The minister said the primary payload, named NEXTSat-2, had exchanged signals with a ground station in Antarctica and the six others are expected to follow suit in the coming hours.
Full story : South Korea’s KSLV-2 rocket launches seven satellites, one unaccounted for.
