Nuriho Mission Final Success... "Onboard Satellite Status Normal" [Nuriho Success]

Ministry of Science and ICT Holds Morning Briefing on 22nd to Announce Two-Way Communication Results
Status Control and Other Functions Confirmed Operating Normally

The Korean launch vehicle Nuriho (KSLV-II), designed and manufactured purely with domestic technology, is soaring into space with flames erupting from the launch pad at Naro Space Center in Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do on the 21st. Unlike the first launch, which carried only a dummy satellite with no actual function, the second launch of Nuriho this time carried a performance verification satellite and four CubeSats. / Goheung = Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] South Korea's first independent space launch vehicle, 'Nuriho (KSLV-II),' has successfully confirmed that the performance verification satellite it placed into orbit is in good condition. The final goal of 'satellite orbit insertion' by Nuriho has been achieved.

On the 22nd, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) held a briefing at the Ministry of Science and ICT building in Sejong City and announced that at around 3:01 a.m. that day, the Daejeon KARI ground station successfully established two-way communication with the Nuriho performance verification satellite.

Nuriho was launched precisely at 4 p.m. the previous day, completed all flight operations normally, and successfully placed the performance verification satellite into a 700 km altitude orbit. Earlier, about 42 minutes after the launch, KARI confirmed the 'launch success' by receiving basic status information such as the flight path, process, and position of the performance verification satellite through antennas at the Antarctic King Sejong Station and the Daejeon KARI ground station.

With the successful two-way communication between the KARI ground station and the performance verification satellite in the early morning, the satellite orbit insertion performance of Nuriho has been fully confirmed. During communication, KARI synchronized the satellite and ground station clocks via remote commands. The GPS receiver onboard the performance verification satellite was also activated. Additionally, orbital information necessary for 3-axis attitude control was transmitted to the performance verification satellite.

A KARI official stated, "After analyzing detailed data on the received satellite status, we confirmed that the performance verification satellite is in good condition and all functions are operating normally," adding, "We plan to download the initial data and GPS data stored in the satellite's internal memory since launch at a high-speed transmission mode (1 Mbps) through additional communications."

KARI will monitor the satellite's status and stabilize its attitude over the next seven days. Starting from the 29th, four CubeSats developed by domestic universities and internally mounted will be ejected one by one at two-day intervals. On the 29th, the CubeSat developed by Chosun University, on July 1 by KAIST, on July 3 by Seoul National University, and on July 5 by Yonsei University will each separate from the performance verification satellite and enter orbit.

KARI plans to capture the ejection process through a dedicated camera installed on the performance verification satellite and transmit the footage to the ground station. The performance verification satellite is expected to orbit the Earth in a sun-synchronous orbit approximately 14.6 times per day for the next two years. After an initial one-month operation period, it will begin its full mission. It is equipped with domestically developed thermal batteries, control moment gyroscopes, and an S-Band antenna to conduct performance and scientific experiments.

Kim Ki-seok, Director of Space Technology at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "With the successful ground station communication of the performance verification satellite, we will do our best to ensure the smooth progress of CubeSat ejection and payload performance verification going forward."