Korea's first lunar orbiter to be launched in August 2022
Korea's first lunar orbiter to be launched in August 2022
  • Jung Jun-ho
  • 승인 2020.10.05 10:08
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Korea's first lunar probe will be launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida, the U.S. on Aug. 1, 2022 on the Falcon 9 projectile (rocket) of SpaceX. / Courtesy of KARI

Korea's first lunar probe will be launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida, the U.S. on Aug. 1, 2022 on the Falcon 9 projectile (rocket) of SpaceX.

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) announced the development status and future schedule of the lunar probe "KPLO," which is currently being developed chiefly by KARI, at the “Aerospace Science Academy” held at 10 a.m. on Sept. 25.

Korea originally designed the total weight of the lunar orbiter at 550 kilograms, but due to technical limitations, it has decided to change the design and extend the period from December this year to July 2022.

The KARI has received a proposal for a new trajectory (BLT) from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to increase the weight of test lunar orbit and achieve mission life on the moon, and has completed the design (BLT 1.0 and BLT 2.0 versions) of BLT.

NASA also gave a good assessment of the design of a new trajectory to the moon, or BLT trajectory, saying that if the orbiter goes to the moon, it will be able to perform a set mission.

The institute is currently conducting functional tests on parts and other instruments to be mounted on the test lunar orbit, and plans to start assembling a full-fledged flight model from the end of this year and complete the final assembly next year.

Naro Space Science Museum / Courtesy of KARI

A total of six payloads, including a high-resolution camera, a photo-optical camera, a magnetic field measuring device, a gamma ray spectroscope, a space Internet payload, and NASA's Shadow Cam, are currently being developed.

Lee Sang-ryul, head of the lunar exploration project, even could not guarantee this point until the end of last year. The biggest reason was a design problem. When the KPLO was first designed in 2008, the target weight was 550 kilograms. 

At that time, the KPLO was planned to be launched on a domestic rocket, and the maximum weight of a spacecraft that can be loaded on a domestic rocket was estimated at 550 kilograms.

Meanwhile, Kim Hyung-wan who is in charge of the lunar exploration assembly test, said, "Two of the six payloads have been developed and are currently undergoing functional tests, and we plan to start assembling flight models from the end of this year."


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