31st January 2013

South Korea becomes the 11th space-faring nation

South Korea has conducted its first successful orbital launch, using the Naro-1 rocket to place a satellite in orbit around the Earth.

The Naro-1 is South Korea's first carrier vehicle. Its maiden flight took place on 25th August 2009 – from the country's new spaceport, the Naro Space Center. However, it failed to reach orbit as the payload separation system malfunctioned. The following year, a second attempt was made – but this too ended in failure, with the spacecraft exploding two minutes after blast off.

Yesterday at 07:00 UTC (16:00 KST), a third attempt was made – this time successfully. Officials confirmed that everything had gone as planned; the Naro-1 had reached its target altitude and deployed its satellite 540 seconds after the launch. Science Minister, Lee Ju-ho, told reporters that South Korea would use this "overwhelming moment as a strong, dynamic force" to help drive an independent space programme.

The satellite now in orbit, STSAT-2C, has a mass of 100 kg (220 lb) and is designed to collect climate data. Further plans are being made for a 75-ton thrust engine by 2018 and a 300-ton launch vehicle by 2021. The space program has so far cost US$471 million.

With its successful launch of the Naro-1, South Korea becomes only the 11th independent nation to develop orbital launch capability. This has occurred just one month after the country's immediate neighbour – North Korea – also deployed its first rocket into space with the successful December 2012 launch of the Unha-3. It also comes in the wake of news that North Korea is planning a third nuclear test. Chinese Navy official Yin Zhuo said that South Korea has been competing with Japan for favour with the United States, and the launch aims to strengthen relations with the U.S.

Looked at from a historical perspective, the graph below appears to show that we're extremely far from having all of the world's nations in this space-faring club. However, a number of game-changing technologies in the coming decades could greatly accelerate this trend.

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