South Korea to deploy military satellites using homegrown Nuri rocket
South Korea plans to deploy military reconnaissance satellites using its domestically developed Nuri rocket in 2031, aiming to strengthen its space-based surveillance capabilities, the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) said Tuesday, Qazinform News Agency cites Yonhap.
KASA Administrator Oh Tae-seok announced the plan during a Cabinet meeting following the successful fifth launch of the Nuri rocket earlier this month. The mission placed five Earth observation microsatellites into orbit.
Under the agency’s plan, South Korea intends to conduct at least one Nuri launch annually through 2032.
The rocket’s 11th launch, scheduled for 2031, will carry four electro-optical (EO) reconnaissance microsatellites. South Korea has previously relied on foreign launch vehicles to deploy its military satellites.
The 12th Nuri launch, planned for 2032, will carry three companion satellites designed to operate alongside the Arirang 8 multipurpose satellite. Arirang 8 will be equipped with synthetic aperture radar (SAR), enabling it to capture images regardless of weather conditions or daylight.
KASA also outlined plans to expand the country’s Earth observation capabilities in the coming years. The agency aims to launch five additional Earth observation microsatellites in the second half of 2027, followed by the fifth next-generation medium-sized satellite in 2028.
Earlier, Qazinform reported Japan launched the world's first Mars moon sample-return mission.