Tag: KARI
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South Korean Orbiter Photographs Fresh Lunar Crater After Falcon 9 Upper Stage Impact
The upper stage was a leftover piece of the rocket that launched Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 and ispace’s HAKUTO-R M2 Resilience, two lunar landers that lifted off in January 2025. The stage measured 13.8 meters long and weighed 4,000 kg. While the incident poses no harm to any missions currently in orbit or on…
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SpaceX launches Danuri, South Korea’s first mission to the Moon
SpaceX has launched South Korea’s first mission to the Moon on Thursday. A flight-proven Falcon 9 rocket launched the Danuri spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 7:08 PM EDT (23:08 UTC). Danuri, also known as the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), will be the first…
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KARI reaches orbit on second test flight of domestic Nuri rocket
The Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) has conducted its second launch of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV)-II rocket, also known as Nuri. This was Nuri’s return to flight after nearly reaching orbit on its previous mission. The rocket lifted off from Launch Complex-2 (LC-2) at the Naro Space Center on June 21 at 16:00…
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KARI names KPLO as it begins communication testing
The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) is preparing to launch its Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), recently named Danuri. Danuri is South Korea’s first of many planned lunar missions in the coming future. This mission is developed and operated by KARI with contributions from NASA. A SpaceX Falcon 9 will launch Danuri on August 2,…
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South Korea’s KSLV-II conducts maiden launch attempt
South Korea’s second-generation launch system, Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV)-II, has conducted its maiden orbital launch attempt. KSLV-II, also known as Nuri, was developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). Nuri lifted off on October 21 at 08:00 UTC. This launch attempted to carry a 1.5-ton mass simulator to a 700 km Sun-Synchronous Orbit…
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U.S. instrument team to fly camera on South Korean moon mission
Artist’s concept of the ShadowCam instrument peering into Shackleton Crater. Credit: NASA A camera developed by scientists at Arizona State University will join four foreign-built instruments on South Korea’s first lunar orbiter set for launch at the end of 2018, NASA announced Friday. NASA selected the ShadowCam instrument from proposals submitted by U.S. science teams.…
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Russia’s Angara rocket wins first commercial launch contract
File photo of the first test launch of the Angara 1.2 rocket in July 2014. Credit: Russian Ministry of Defense South Korea’s space agency has signed a contract to launch an Earth observation satellite into orbit in 2020 aboard Russia’s Angara rocket, giving the new booster its first commercial customer, International Launch Services announced Monday.…
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South Korean satellite launched by Dnepr rocket
A stockpiled Soviet-era ballistic missile shot out of an underground silo on a remote Russian military base Wednesday and powered into orbit with a South Korean Earth observation satellite. South Korea’s Kompsat 3A imaging satellite rode the 111-foot-tall Dnepr launcher on a 15-minute journey into space after liftoff at 2208:46 GMT (6:08:46 p.m. EDT) from…
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Arianespace edges out SpaceX to launch Korean satellites
An Ariane 5 rocket lifts off on Dec. 6, 2014, with two commercial satellites. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG Two South Korean Earth-watching satellites will ride Ariane 5 rockets into orbit in 2018 and 2019 after Arianespace beat SpaceX in a competition to launch the spacecraft, Korean and Arianespace officials announced Friday.…