South Korea’s first lunar orbiter has successfully launched on a year-long lunar observation mission, Seoul said Friday, with the payload carrying a new fault-tolerant network for sending data from space.
Danuri – a portmanteau of the Korean words for “moon” and “enjoy” – was on a Falcon 9 rocket launched by Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX from Cape Canaveral in Florida. It is expected to reach the moon by mid-December.
“South Korea’s first lunar orbiter ‘Danuri’ launched into space at 8:08 am on August 5, 2022,” Seoul’s Ministry of Science said in a tweet, sharing video of the rocket leaving a huge plume of smoke and flames in its wake .
“Danuri will be the first step to the moon and the distant universe,” it said, apparently referring to the country’s ambitious space program, which includes plans for a lunar mission by 2030.
SpaceX tweeted that the launch was a success.
“Deployment confirmed by KPLO,” it said, referring to Danuri using an acronym of his official name, Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter.
During his mission, Danuri will use six different instruments, including a NASA-provided high-sensitivity camera, to conduct research, including examining the lunar surface to identify potential landing sites.
One of the instruments will evaluate fault-tolerant, network-based space communications, which is a world first, according to South Korea’s Science Ministry.
– BTS in Space –
Danuri will also try to develop a wireless internet environment to connect satellites or exploration spacecraft, they added.
The Lunar Orbiter will stream the song “Dynamite” by K-pop sensation BTS to test this wireless network.
Another instrument, ShadowCam, will capture images of the permanently shadowed regions around the moon’s poles that no sunlight can reach.
Scientists also hope Danuri will find hidden sources of water and ice in areas of the moon, including the permanently dark and cold regions near the poles.
“This is a very significant milestone in the history of Korean space exploration,” said Lee Sang-ryool, head of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, in a video shown ahead of the launch.
“Danuri is just the beginning, and if we are more determined and committed to technology development for space travel, we will be able to reach Mars, asteroids and so on in the near future.”
South Korean scientists say Danuri – which took seven years to build – will pave the way for the nation’s more ambitious goal of landing on the moon by 2030.
“South Korea will be the seventh country in the world to launch an unmanned probe to the moon,” an official with the Korea Aerospace Research Institute told AFP.
“We hope to continue to contribute to the global understanding of the moon with what Danuri will discover.”
– lunar ambitions –
Danuri was launched by a private company – SpaceX – but South Korea was recently one of a few countries to successfully launch a one-tonne payload using their own rockets.
In June, the country’s native three-stage rocket, nicknamed Nuri — a decade in development and costing 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion) — successfully launched and scored on its second attempt after a failure last October satellites into orbit.
This launch — along with Friday’s launch of Danuri — is helping bring South Korea ever closer to its space ambitions.
In Asia, China, Japan and India all have advanced space programs – and the South’s nuclear-armed neighbor North Korea has also demonstrated satellite launch capability.
Ballistic missiles and space missiles use similar technologies, and Pyongyang launched a 300-kilogram (660-pound) satellite into orbit in 2012, in what Washington condemned as a stealth missile test.
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