Nuri rocket lifts off in 5th launch

The Nuri rocket lifted off for its fifth launch Wednesday from the second launchpad at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City. The rocket lifted off from the second launch pad at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, at 12:25 p.m. and completed its roughly 20-minute flight at around 12:45 p.m. The rocket separated its first stage about two minutes after liftoff, followed by the second stage about four and a half minutes into the flight. At around 12:40 p.m., it reached an altitude of 570 kilometers and completed the sequential deployment of five NEONSAT swarm microsatellites, its primary payload, and 10 CubeSats. The flight ended at around 12:45 p.m. after the third stage completed its autopilot sequence. The Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) oversaw the development of the five NEONSAT satellites. Each is an Earth observation satellite weighing less than 100 kilograms, designed to capture high-resolution images with a ground resolution of 1 meter in black and white and 4 meters in color. Five additional satelli