South Korea's Nuri Rocket Delivers 15 Satellites On Fifth Flight, One CubeSat Fails To Deploy
· TexaHub · Space & Aerospace, Technology Trends
Nuri lifted off from Naro Space Center on 7 October with five NEONSAT Earth-observation satellites and ten CubeSats, its most complex mission to date.
Launch Sequence
South Korea's Nuri rocket lifted off at about 12:25 p.m. local time on 7 October from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, carrying 15 satellites, the largest number South Korea has launched, according to JKN [1]. The first stage separated at about two minutes, the fairing at about four minutes and the second stage at about 4.5 minutes, with the rocket passing 300 kilometres altitude on a normal trajectory [1].
Aju Press reported the rocket reached roughly 575 kilometres in about 20 minutes. The 47.2-metre vehicle weighed about 200 tonnes at liftoff [2].
Payload And Deployment
The payload was five NEONSAT micro-satellites (units 2 to 6), each under 100 kilograms, and ten CubeSats [1][2]. The NEONSATs were to be released one by one at 35-40 second intervals. Korea Times said this was the country's first satellite constellation launch attempt, according to Park Jae-sung of the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) [4]. Aju Press said the NEONSATs image at 1 metre in black and white and 4 metres in colour [2].
KASA confirmed normal separation of all five NEONSATs. BigGo Finance reported that one CubeSat, PURSAT, developed by Quaternion, did not separate despite a normal deployment signal, so nine of ten CubeSats were released [3]. Aju Press did not mention a failure, so the account of the CubeSat should be treated as reported by one outlet [2][3].
What Comes Next
According to BigGo, the cause is under investigation, with either a deployment mechanism fault or a reception problem on the satellite as possibilities. The satellite will burn up on re-entry with the rocket's third stage [3].
The full constellation will have ten NEONSATs, with five more planned on Nuri's sixth flight in 2027, after which the constellation should image the Korean Peninsula multiple times a day [2][4]. The satellites are intended for national security and disaster monitoring, including wildfire and flood detection [4].
Sources
[1] Nuri Rocket's Fifth Launch Sees Successful First and Second Stage Separation, Reaches 300km Altitude — JKN, 7 Oct 2026
[2] South Korea's Nuri rocket delivers 15 satellites to orbit — Aju Press, 7 Oct 2026
[3] South Korea's Nuri Rocket Succeeds in 5th Launch; One CubeSat Fails to Deploy — BigGo Finance, 7 Oct 2026
[4] Korea's Nuri rocket to carry 1st microsatellite constellation in 5th launch — The Korea Times, 15 Sep 2026