South Korea successfully tested its third solid fuel carrier rocket, carrying commercial satellites for the first time

CTOnews.com, December 4, according to CCTV, South Korea today conducted its third test of a solid fuel carrier rocket in the waters near Jeju Island. Shortly after the launch, the South Korean Defense Ministry announced that the rocket test was successful.

The launch vehicle was launched from a barge 4 kilometers off the Chinese coast of Jeju Road. This is the third test launch of the carrier rocket after March and December last year.

According to reports, the launch carried a small synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite developed by Han Hua, which is intended for earth observation missions. The previous two tests carried only a virtual satellite, which was the first time they launched a physical satellite.

The South Korean Defense Ministry said: "through this successful launch, the military is one step closer to achieving a local space launch that will rapidly deploy small satellites to low orbit in the future."

▲ Yonhap screenshot Defense Ministry officials commented that the success of the third test led to progress in South Korea's self-research technology to put small satellites into Earth orbit. After the completion of the research and development work, they will have the ability to launch small observation and reconnaissance satellites in time according to the needs of national security and emergencies.

According to reports, the thrust of South Korea's solid fuel rocket is more than 1.5 times that of the DPRK. South Korea also announced that the Ministry of Defense would conduct its last test launch in 2025, testing stage 1 to 4 boosters and launching physical satellites.