South Korea Moves Nuri Rocket to Launchpad for Fifth Flight

South Korea began moving its homegrown Nuri rocket to the launchpad on Tuesday, opening the final phase of preparations for the vehicle’s fifth flight and its most complex satellite deployment mission to date.

The Korea AeroSpace Administration said the launch team started transporting the three-stage rocket at 6 a.m. from an assembly complex to the launchpad at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, on the country’s southern coast. The journey was expected to take about 90 minutes. Engineers were then due to raise Nuri into a vertical position on the launch platform.

Once the rocket is secured, teams will connect it to the launchpad’s umbilical systems, which provide electrical power and other links needed before liftoff. They will also perform checks ahead of loading fuel and oxidizer. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute said work at the launchpad was expected to be completed by the end of Tuesday.

The fifth launch is scheduled for Wednesday. The space agency plans to convene a launch management committee that day to set the final liftoff time after reviewing the rocket’s technical condition, local weather and the risk of a collision with objects already in space. An earlier mission plan placed the launch window between 12:23 p.m. and 1:23 p.m., with backup dates available from Oct. 8 through Oct. 14.

Nuri will carry 15 satellites. Its primary payload consists of five New-space Earth Observation Satellite Constellation for National Safety spacecraft, while 10 CubeSats will fly as secondary payloads. The five main satellites form the first half of a planned 10-satellite constellation designed to support national security and disaster response, including monitoring wildfires and floods. A further five are scheduled to fly on Nuri’s sixth launch in 2027.

The mission will test South Korea’s ability to release several satellites serving the same purpose sequentially. The five constellation satellites are to be deployed in different directions at intervals of 35 to 40 seconds to reduce collision risk. Successfully placing multiple spacecraft into their intended orbits is also an important capability for future commercial launch services.

Nuri’s flight record has improved since its first attempt in 2021 failed to place a dummy payload into orbit. Its second launch succeeded in 2022, the third placed eight satellites into orbit in 2023, and the fourth carried 13 satellites in November 2025. Wednesday’s mission would continue South Korea’s effort to develop an independent launch capability while expanding domestic experience in constellation deployment.