South Korea's largest satellite launched on Nuri rocket in ambitious space mission

South Korea launched its largest satellite yet on its nationally developed space rocket early Thursday in the fourth of six launches planned through 2027, Report informs via AP.

The three-stage Nuri rocket lifted off from a spaceport on an island off the southwestern coastal county of Goheung. Aerospace officials said the rocket placed a 516-kilogram (1,137-pound) science satellite and 12 microsatellites into a target orbit about 600 kilometers (372 miles) above Earth.

The Korea Aerospace Administration said the main satellite made contact with a South Korean ground station in Antarctica about 40 minutes after liftoff at 1:55 a.m., confirming normal function and deployment of its solar panels. The satellite later established links with ground stations in South Korea's central Daejeon city and Svalbard, Norway, as well as further contact with the King Sejong Station in Antarctica.

Five of the 12 microsatellites had contacted ground stations as of Thursday afternoon, and the rest were expected to do so in a scheduled sequence.

Kyunghoon Bae, the country's science minister, said the successful launch reaffirmed that South Korea had independent space launch and transport capability.

He said the launch was a turning point as the first time a private company, Hanwha Aerospace, assembled the rocket under a technology transfer from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, the national space agency.

"Building on today's success, we will steadfastly pursue the development of next-generation launch vehicles, lunar exploration and deep-space missions," Bae said.

The main satellite launched Thursday is equipped with a wide-range airglow camera to observe auroral activity and separate systems for measuring plasma and magnetic fields and for testing how life-science experiments perform in space.

The dozen smaller "cube" satellites, developed by university teams and research institutions, include GPS systems to study Earth's atmosphere, infrared cameras to track plastic in the oceans, and systems for testing solar cells or communication equipment.