The Korea AeroSpace Administration announced on the 23rd that it has formed its own 'Nuri 4th Launch Task Force (TF)' to prepare for the 4th launch of the Korean launch vehicle Nuri scheduled for November this year and held an inception meeting at the space agency's office.
The TF consists of five teams in the fields of launch operations, satellite management, launch safety, observation events, and public relations, and is expected to operate until the Nuri 4th launch. The launch operations team will comprehensively manage the preparations for the entire launch process, operating the launch management committee that holds the final decision-making authority over the launch, while the satellite management team will carry out comprehensive management of the primary payload satellite.
The launch safety team will carry out overall launch safety control tasks, including operating a launch safety control council with 11 participating organizations such as the military, police, fire agency, and local governments. The observation events team is responsible for finalizing and guiding the number of observers, while the public relations team will perform tasks such as supporting media coverage, responding to external promotions, and operating a press center.
The upcoming 4th launch is expected to carry the next-generation medium-sized satellite No. 3 as the primary payload, along with 12 ultra-small cube satellites developed by academia, industry, and research as secondary payloads. Until the 3rd launch, the Nuri was manufactured and launched under the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), but starting from the 4th launch, the launch vehicle will be manufactured by Hanwha Aerospace, a comprehensive system enterprise.
The Nuri No. 4 vehicle began its component assembly in October last year at the launch vehicle assembly building within the Goheung Naro Space Center. Once the assembly is completed around August, full assembly is expected to begin. Starting with the Nuri 4th launch this year, the 5th launch in 2026 and the 6th launch in 2027 are planned.
Park Jae-sung, head of the space transportation division at the Korea AeroSpace Administration, noted, 'This 4th launch is significant as it is the first attempt since the opening of the space agency, and it marks the first launch of the Nuri manufactured by a comprehensive system enterprise,' and said, 'Through the 4th launch TF, we will conduct thorough management and inspections to ensure that there is no margin for error in the launch preparation.'