The following is a chronology of major events leading to the development of Korea's homegrown space rocket Nuri, or Korea Space Launch Vehicle-II (KSLV-II), which was launched from Naro Space Center in the country's southern coastal village of Goheung on Thursday.
June 4, 1993 ― Korea launches the homegrown one-stage solid propelled science observation rocket, called the Korea Space Rocket-I, after three years of development.
July 9, 1997 ― Korea launches the homegrown KSR-II two-stage solid propelled science observation rocket. It adopted such advanced technologies as guided control and stage separation compared with the previous version.
March 26, 2001 ― Korea joins the Missile Technology Control Regime, an informal international association that oversees the proliferation of unmanned delivery systems capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction.
August 2002 ― Korea and Russia confirm plans to develop the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-I (KSLV-I) rocket, with a launch planned for 2005.
Nov. 18, 2002 ― Korea launches the liquid-propellant science rocket of the KSR-III. It marked the first time that the country successfully built an independent liquid-fueled rocket, which laid the foundation for the development of small satellite launch vehicles.
2005 ― Korea and Russia complete work on critical designs for the KSLV-I. The original launch date was postponed until October 2007.
June 11, 2009 ― Korea opens Naro Space Center. Launch pad certification is completed using KSLV-I GTV. A complete first-stage rocket arrives from Russia by plane.
Aug. 11, 2009 ― After rounds of postponement, South Korea sets a new launch date for Aug. 19, 2009, following consultation with Russia.
Aug. 19, 2009 ― Korea halts the countdown of the KSLV-I with less than eight minutes to go before blastoff after the automatic launch sequence system detects a problem in a high-pressure tank.
Aug. 25, 2009 ― The KSLV-I is launched and successfully enters orbit. But it failed to deploy a scientific satellite. An independent panel later confirmed a fairing assembly malfunction caused the failure.
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| In this file photo on June 10, 2010, the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1), called Naro, lifts off at Naro Space Center in Goheung, 485 kilometers south of Seoul. However, it exploded soon after liftoff. Korea Times file |
March 2010 ― Korea kicks off the project to develop the KSLV-II space rocket.
June 10, 2010 ― Korea launches the KSLV-I for the second time, but it exploded 137.19 seconds after liftoff.
Jan. 30, 2013 ― After rounds of rescheduling, South Korea successfully launches the KSLV-I from Korea's Naro Space Center.
March 2014 ― Korea successfully conducts the first combustion test of the 7-ton-class liquid engine combustor for the KSLV-II.
June 8, 2016 ― Korea successfully conducts the 75-ton liquid-fueled engine, which burned for 75 seconds.
March 2018 ― Korea begins the comprehensive combustion test of the KSLV-II rocket.
Sept. 3, 2018 ― Korea announces the name of the KSLV-II rocket is Nuri, which means the world in Korean.
Nov. 28, 2018 ― Korea successfully test-launches the KSLV-Test Launch Vehicle to verify the performance of the liquid engine to be used for the KSLV-II.
Sept. 29, 2021 ― Korea confirms the date of the Nuri rocket's first launch on Oct. 21 and begins final safety exercises.
Oct. 21, 2021 ― The KSLV-II Nuri rocket lifts off from Naro Space Center in the country's southern coastal village of Goheung. But it ended in partial success, as the rocket failed to put a dummy satellite into orbit despite the successful flight to a target altitude of 700 kilometers. A probe found that the helium tank in the third-stage rocket fell off due to increased buoyancy during the flight and eventually caused the engine to shut off prematurely.
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| Korea's homegrown space rocket Nuri lifts off from Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, southwestern Korea, on June 21, 2022, as the country makes a second attempt to put satellites into orbit. Korea Times file |
June 15, 2022 ― Korea postpones the second launch of Nuri, one day ahead of the scheduled liftoff, after detecting irregularities in a sensor in the oxidizer tank.
June 17, 2022 ― Korea announces a plan to launch Nuri on June 21 after fixing a technical glitch in the oxidizer tank sensor.
June 21, 2022 ― The Nuri rocket lifts off. It succeeded in deploying a dummy and performance verification satellites at a target altitude of 700 kilometers. The satellite made its first communication with the King Sejong Station in Antarctica some 40 minutes after the launch, and the government confirmed Nuri's launch successful. South Korea became the seventh country in the world to develop a space launch vehicle that can carry a more than 1-ton satellite, after Russia, the United States, France, China, Japan and India.
April 11, 2023 ― Korea sets May 24 as the 3rd launch date of Nuri.
May 24, 2023 ― Korea calls off the launch of Nuri about three hours before the scheduled liftoff due to a computer glitch in a helium tank facility.
May 25, 2023 ― Korea's Nuri space rocket lifts off from Naro Space Center. (Yonhap)
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