S Korea test launches 1st domestically made space rocket
Source: AP
By KIM TONG-HYUNG
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s first domestically produced space rocket reached its desired altitude but failed to deliver a dummy payload into orbit in its first test launch on Thursday.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who observed the launch on-site, still described the test as an “excellent accomplishment” that takes the country a step further in its pursuit of a satellite launch program.
Live footage showed the 47-meter (154 foot) rocket soaring into the air with bright yellow flames shooting out of its engines following blastoff at Naro Space Center, the country’s lone spaceport, on a small island off its southern coast.
Lim Hye-sook, the country’s science minister, said Nuri’s first and second stages separated properly and that the third stage ejected the payload – a 1.5-ton block of stainless steel and aluminum – at 700 kilometers (435 miles) above Earth.
In this photo provided by Korea Aerospace Research Institute via Yonhap, the Nuri rocket, the first domestically produced space rocket, sits on its launch pad at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021. South Korea was preparing to test-launch its first domestically produced space rocket Thursday, Oct.21, in what officials describe as an important step in its pursuit of a satellite launch program. (Korea Aerospace Research Institute/Yonhap via AP)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/space-launches-technology-science-south-korea-eba9af4f1dec9751133fd7052b9da146