South Korea will launch military reconnaissance satellites aboard its homegrown Nuri rocket in 2031, marking the first time a domestically built launch vehicle will carry military spy satellites. The country has until now relied on U.S. space company SpaceX for such launches.
Oh Tae-seok, head of the Korea AeroSpace Administration, told a Cabinet meeting on the 20th that the government plans to launch national satellites for public and defense purposes aboard the Nuri rocket at least once a year from 2027 through 2032. The repeated launches are intended to improve the rocket's reliability. Under the plan, the 11th Nuri launch in 2031 will carry four electro-optical (EO) satellites that are part of a military microsatellite constellation. EO satellites are reconnaissance satellites that photograph the ground with light-sensing cameras to monitor military facilities and troop movements.
Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul said the government plans to launch four microsatellites in 2031 and arrange cooperation for about eight more. President Lee Jae-myung said launch vehicles and satellites are likely to become core military assets and that demand for satellite communications will grow, instructing officials to consider expanding investment in space launch vehicles and satellites.
The 12th Nuri launch in 2032 will carry three companion satellites to operate alongside the multipurpose Arirang-8 satellite. Arirang-8 is a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite capable of observing the ground regardless of weather or time of day. The mission will introduce multistatic observation for the first time, in which the main satellite transmits radio waves and companion satellites positioned elsewhere receive the reflected signals, improving observation precision.