Dubbed Danuri, which means enjoy the moon in Korean, the probe has been developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and will conduct observations flying at an altitude of 100 km above the lunar surface. KARI is also partnering with Nasa on the mission, which is providing payloads, deep space communication, and navigation technology.
The test probe is set to launch onboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, which will put it on a trajectory to the Moon using the lunar orbit transfer method. The probe will use the gravity of the Sun and Earth to travel to the Moon. The mission, pegged at over $180 billion, will reach its destination by mid-December.
The lunar orbiter comprises a main body, which is 1.82 meters in width, 2.14 meters in length, and 2.29 meters in height. The main body houses the navigation and guidance control instruments, power systems, thermal control, long-distance communication system, and propulsion system.
The 678-kilogram probe has an expected lifetime of one year around the Moon and will orbit in a circular orbit at an altitude of 100 km and a 90-degree inclination angle.
The spacecraft will carry a total of six payloads, five of which have been developed by Kari and the remaining by Nasa. The spacecraft has been equipped with a high-resolution camera for exploring the proposed landing site for the lunar landing module, a polarized camera to analyze the lunar surface particles and the spacecraft’s effect, and a lunar magnetic field-measuring instrument to gather data related to the magnetic field intensity around the Moon.
A gamma-ray spectrometer has also been installed that will identify the elements constituting the lunar surface and its distribution pattern along. The polarised camera being sent to the Moon will be used to film the image of the entire lunar surface and capture polarized images of areas except for the polar region. Meanwhile, space Internet test equipment developed by the Electronics & Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) will also be used for testing the delay-tolerant network.
South Korea, in March this year, created history by successfully test-firing a solid-fuel space rocket for the first time. The launch was the first such test since South Korea and the United States agreed last year to end decades of restrictions on the South's ballistic missile and rocket development. The test verified the large solid-fuel engine, fairing separation, stage separation, and upper-stage attitude control technology.
In October last year, South Korea conducted the first test launch of the Nuri liquid-fuelled rocket, its first domestically built space launch vehicle. Nuri blasted off but failed to fully place a dummy satellite into orbit.
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