SEOUL: All 12 cube satellites deployed by South Korea’s homegrown rocket Nuri last month have established communication with ground stations, their developers said Monday, setting a new milestone following the successful fourth launch of the space rocket, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The 200-tonnes Nuri blasted off from Naro Space Centre in the country’s southern coastal village of Goheung, some 330 kilometres (km) south of Seoul, on Nov 27, placing the main and 12 cube satellites into orbit at an altitude of 600 km.
The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) said it has communicated with the E3 Tester-1, one of the cube satellites, while Space Liin Tech, a South Korean space technology firm, also announced successful communication with its own satellite BEE-1000.
Quaternion, another domestic space company, also confirmed successful communication with its cube satellite, the PERSAT, to Yonhap News Agency.
Last week, the Korea AeroSpace Administration and KARI confirmed communication with the other nine cube satellites.
It marked the first time that all satellites deployed by Nuri in a single launch have established communication with the ground.
Compared with large-scale satellites, cube satellites often face failures due to their limited capacity.
The main satellite established communication with South Korea’s King Sejong Station in Antarctica shortly after the rocket launch. – BERNAMA-YONHAP
