Launch Pad to Be Set up in Oct.

An engineering model of the first stage of the Nuri space rocket is shown at the Naroho Space Center in Goheung of South Jeolla Province on Jan. 15.

The South Korean government plans to assemble a flight model of the Nuri, a space rocket it has been developing with purely Korean technology, in the second half of this year and complete a launch pad, where the rocket will be lifted off, in October this year.

The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) disclosed the development site of the Korean-type rocket Nuri at the Naroho Space Center on Jan. 15.

The Nuri development team produces a flight model of the space rocket after manufacturing, assembling and testing the engine and components for each of the rocket’s three stages. Flight model assembly is scheduled for the second half of this year. KARI will also conduct a general combustion test on a cluster engine (a bundle of four 75-ton engines) that will be installed in the first-stage of the rocket in the second half.

The Nuri will be powered by 75-ton and 7-ton thrust engines. The 75-ton engine proved its reliability by successfully passing a flight performance test in January 2018 and static firing tests. The 75-ton engine went through combustion tests on a total of 138 times for 13,065 seconds until Jan. 8. Combustion tests on the 7-ton engine to be installed at the top of the rocket were conducted 77 times for a total of 12,325.7 seconds.

The second launch pad to be completed this October is being built by Korean researchers. After its completion, a certified model of the Nuri will be placed on the launch pad to finally verify its functions.

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