South Korea sends orbiter to moon, seeks to join exclusive club

Robert Besser
11 Aug 2022, 12:26 GMT+10

South Korea has launched a domestically manufactured lunar orbiter that took off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station aboard a SpaceX rocket this week
A live broadcast of the launch, the country's first moon mission, showed the orbiter, "Danuri" or "Enjoy the Moon" successfully separating from the Falcon 9 rocket
The craft, weighing some 1,500 pounds and developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, carried six payloads, including Korean-made equipment

SEOUL, South Korea: South Korea has launched a domestically manufactured lunar orbiter that took off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station aboard a SpaceX rocket this week.

A live broadcast of the launch, the country's first moon mission, showed the orbiter, "Danuri" or "Enjoy the Moon" successfully separating from the Falcon 9 rocket.

The craft, weighing some 1,500 pounds and developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, carried six payloads, including Korean-made equipment.

In a statement, South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT said the orbiter is expected to enter the moon's orbit in December, when it will begin an observation mission to search for possible landing sites for future missions, conduct scientific research of the lunar environment, and test space internet technology over a one year period.

South Korea will become the world's seventh country to explore the moon, and the fourth in Asia behind China, Japan and India.

South Korea aims to accelerate its advancing space program and send a probe to the moon by 2030. In June, it successfully launched satellites into orbit with its locally-made Nuri rocket.
Amidst international sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear-armed ballistic missile program, space launches have been a sensitive issue on the Korean peninsula.

South Korea stressed that any military use of the technology, such as in spy satellites, is for its defense, adding that its space program is for peaceful and scientific purposes.

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Beijing Bulletin.

More Information

22 ℃

Fair in Beijing/Capital

Technology

Section

Apple's appeal on fines over App Store rejected by Dutch regulator

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands: This week, Dutch competition regulator, the ACM, rejected an appeal by Apple against fines worth €50 million. ...

Japanese startup develops robot resembling 'Mobile Suit Gundam'

TOKYO, Japan: Tokyo-based startup Tsubame Industries has developed a four-wheeled robot that resembles the "Mobile Suit Gundam" from the popular ...

Ireland sees new Intel chip plant celebrates opening

DUBLIN, Ireland: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that Intel's new factory in Co Kildare will play a "strategic" role in ...

FTC takes Amazon to court for monopolizing online marketspace

SEATTLE, Washington: As part of Washington's efforts to stop Big Tech from monopolizing the most lucrative parts of the internet, ...

Musk set to expand internet services in Africa Bloomberg

Starlink will reportedly sell terminals and connectivity kits in several countries on the continentElon Musk's SpaceX will partner with e-commerce ...

Even before deepfakes, tech was a tool of abuse and control

Of the many "profound risks to society and humanity" that have tech experts worried about artificial intelligence (AI), the spread ...

Business

Section