KARI - KSLV-1 logo.
Jan. 30, 2013
South Korea's first rocket carrier took to it's 3rd launch overall today, January 30th 2013 at 07:00 UTC from South Korea. The KSLV-1 or Naro-1 rocket is a Russian liquid fueled first stage, with a South Korean made solid fueled second stage. The first two launches of the KSLV-1 have failed. This launch appears to have been a success with a satellite being injected into orbit.
Launch of South Korean Rocket with STSAT-2C Satellite
Attempts to launch the KSLV-1 in October and November of last year both suffered from scrubs, firstly due to fuel leak between the vehicle’s first stage and the ground support equipment on the pad, before the vehicle’s upper stage put pad to the next attempt due to a steering mechanism issue.
The Science and Technology Satellite-2C (STSAT-2C) satellite was developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon, 164 km south of Seoul.
STSAT-2C Satellite
The 100-kg satellite is a test spacecraft with a short lifespan of less than one year. It was designed solely to verify the country’s ability to put a satellite into orbit.
At T+7:33 into the flight, the second stage shut down, as STSAT-2C reached the correct trajectory for a stable orbit at an altitude of 300km. 90 seconds later, the STSAT-2C was separated, prior to deploying its solar arrays.
South Korea have made bold claims as to their space flight ambitions, with a goal to develop an indigenous 75 ton thrust engine by 2018 and a 300-ton launch vehicle by 2021.
For more information about Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), visit: http://www.kari.re.kr/eng/index.asp
Images, Video, Text, Credits: KARI / Korean TV / Orbiter.ch Aerospace.
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